Mangaluru, December 19: The city crime branch (CCB) police have arrested the accused in connection to the attempted daylight robbery at Muthoottu Mini Finance firm in Suratkal on December 5th by men armed with weapons.
The arrested accused are Anil Kumar Y M alias Arhan (29) of Periyapatna, Mysuru district; Prasad (21), a resident of Sakleshpur, Hassan district and Harish (28), also from Periyapatna.
On December 5th morning at about 9am, around five strangers came to Muthoottu Mini Finance in Suratkal and in the pretext of asking the value on gold rates in the market, began conversation with a staff. Meanwhile, one of the accused took out a pistol from his pocket and demanded cash and gold. While the accused was brandishing the pistol, an alert woman official of the firm pressed the siren button. Frightened by the siren, the accused ran out of the firm and sped away towards Suratkal in a blue Maruti Omni in which they had come. The Omni vehicle had no number plate.
Based on a complaint filed by K Manohar Shetty of Muthoottu Mini Finance, a case was registered in Suratkal police station.
The attempted daylight robbery in a busy place had left the general public as well as finance firms in a state of fear.
The CCB Police who took up the investigation, while gathering information about the accused and also the Omni in several places, arrested the accused.
Among the accused, Anil Kumar had worked as a salesman of consumer appliances in Mangaluru city and other places. The other two accused in the past had been engaged in petty jobs in the city. The three were friends and had desired to become rich. Hence they planned to rob any bank or finance firm and attempted theft at Muthoottu Mini Finance, CCB police said.
Three air guns and 2 knives, 3 cell phones, ropes, adhesive tape, and the Maruti Omni, that were used for committing the crime altogether worth Rs 3,40,000 had been seized from the accused.
Two others who were accused in the case have absconded.
Under the directions of police commissioner S Murugan, and guided by DCP K M Shantaraju (law and order) and DCP Dr Sanjeev M Patil (Crime and Traffic); the operation was led by CCB inspector Valentine D’Souza, PSI Shyam Sundar and police personnel’s participated in this operation.
