Bengaluru cops crack gold heist with canine squad and 600 CCTV cameras

Bengaluru: The South Bengaluru police, aided by the canine squad, cracked a house theft in Kempegowda Nagar on March 29.

Three masked men broke into a beautician’s house and made away with gold worth Rs 9.2 lakh. Police swung into action with the canine squad following a complaint.

"No spot evidence provided any leads, prompting us to seek help from the canine squad,” an investigating officer told DH. “The dogs caught the scent of the suspects and trailed them for 450 metres, where we found a CCTV camera.”

Investigators first determined the timing of the crime, then meticulously reviewed the CCTV footage, leading them to an autorickshaw spotted near the scene around the time of the incident.

“Following the autorickshaw, we reached Kengeri. There, we reviewed additional CCTV footage and gathered further leads. This ultimately led to the apprehension of one suspect, followed by the arrests of all the others involved in the crime,” the officer said, adding that they reviewed over 600 CCTV cameras to crack the case.

Police identified the arrested men as 34-year-old Anand C, 33-year-old Kiran, and 43-year-old Narayana. They worked as barbers and delivery boys.

Knew her routine 

One of the suspects ran a salon a few metres away from the beautician’s house. The others frequented his salon and therefore, all of them knew the beautician’s routine.

The men, aware the beautician carried her house keys, booked three hairdressing appointments with her. While she worked, they cleverly diverted her attention and stole her keys, making an imprint before putting them back into her bag.

Armed with the key imprint, the suspects had a duplicate made and waited for their chance.

On March 29, around 11 am, they struck, entering the house, stealing whatever they could lay their hands on, and disappearing without a trace.