On June 11, a 25-year-old woman goes missing. Within a week, another young woman goes missing from the same area in Sector 7, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. The cops are investigating to see if there is a link to this or are these isolated incidents. More details follow…

FIRST INCIDENT
Sangeetha, a 25-year-old housewife and a native of Bellary and a resident of 3rd Cross, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Sector 7 went missing, according to her uncle Kantaswamy. On June 7, she came back to Bangalore from Bellary. On June 9, 2019, Kantaswamy and his wife step out to work and leave Sangeetha and her four-year-old daughter Shreya behind. Later, when Kantaswamy’s wife returns at 5.30pm, Sangeetha leaves home at 6pm, never to return. After enquiring with her relatives and realising that she had not reached their homes, a police complaint was lodged on June 11. The incident occurred on a Sunday. Cops believe that an argument between the women could have caused Sangeetha to step out of home in anger.

SECOND INCIDENT
On June 14, Yati Shankar Pandey (34) had an argument with his 30-year-old wife Divya. While he was sleeping, she left home at around 3.40am, never to return. He thought she would return after her anger simmered down like it happened in the last 3-4 times. However, she never did, causing alarm bells to ring. After waiting for two days, and enquiring about her whereabouts from her family members, he filed a police complaint on June 16. The couple was living in a flat in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Sector 7, HSR Layout.

In the space of a week, two thefts have occurred in Sector 1 while the victims were at home and sleeping. Both the thefts happened in the morning. Read on to know how you can avoid a similar incident as the victims were at fault here.

FIRST THEFT
On the morning of June 3, 2019, between 7.15am and 8am, there was a theft in a third floor house on 25th C Cross, 27th Main in Sector 1. The victim was Kalpit Pandey, a 26-year-old employed with a private firm. The theft occurred while he was asleep. The thieves had allegedly opened the front door through the window.

They made away with his office laptop, adaptor, backpack, mouse, headphone, Vivo mobile, Pan card, driving licence, voter ID, aadhaar card, three debit cards, 2 credit cards, 1 sudexo meal card, Rs 1000 cash, and his company ID card. The police complaint was filed on June 5 and the cops have registered a case of theft (IPC 380) and are investigating.

SECOND THEFT
On June 11, another theft occurred between 8.30am and 9am in Sector 1. This time around, it was on 21st Main in Brundavan building. Twenty-seven-year-old Ravikant was at the receiving end of this case. He stays with his friend Shantanu. As always, Shantanu wakes up earlier and leaves the door ajar while going to the office.

In this period while Ravikant is asleep, a thief enters his house and steals his laptop and wallet containing his driving licence, Pan card, 1 debit card and 2 credit cards. In addition, the thief steals Shantanu’s wallet containing Aadhaar card, Pan card, 1 debit card and 2 credit cards and his bike registration certificate. The cops have registered a case of theft and are probing the case.

The Swabhimaana Tree Park on 15th B Main, 19th Cross, Sector 3, is being handed over from the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The park that saw an investment of Rs 5 crore is still a work in progress. The water outlets coming on to the roads are improperly designed. They let water out on to the road instead of the drains, which could flood the homes in low-lying areas. The main entrance  of the park resembles a swimming pool when it rains heavily as there is no proper elevation and shoulder drain that can take the rainwater into the stormwater drain that runs along its boundary.

The lights are not properly installed across the park, particularly near the sand pit and play areas. The play area still needs much sand as the contractor had dumped red soil instead of sand earlier. Much more sand needs to be put to avoid the children from soiling their clothes and causing air pollution in the neighbourhood when the winds kick up the red soil.

The unscientific speakers are another issue with the neighbours complaining that the music played in the wee hours is making them wake up sooner than they should. What’s worse is that the music continues to be played from 6am to 10am. Even the police department cannot give permission to any public place to play music continuously every day for that long. It’s air pollution of the highest kind, particularly to those living on 15th B Main, as the speakers are closest to this road. After much protest by the residents, the high decibels were reduced, but on some days, it goes back to being loud. The residents are hoping that the BBMP removes the speakers altogether and ensures there is peace and serenity all around and there is no violation of the noise pollution norms.

The residents are also demanding that the 21st A Cross Road be connected to 15th B Main as that would offload much of the traffic being seen on 15th B Main alone. With two wheelers and cars parked all along 15th B Main, there is a traffic jam every evening, and more so on weekends.

The amphitheatre should not allow any organisers to use loudspeakers as that would again pollute the neighbourhood. The stadium seating of the amphitheatre is meant to ensure that the sound carries to everyone without the use of amplifiers. And even if a loudspeaker is required, it should be below 50 decibels and only sound boxes (not open-to-air loudspeakers) should be used, not those hand-held loudspeakers.

On May 24, a thief broke into a house in Sector 1 when nobody was home to steal Rs 2 lakh worth jewellery. Yesterday, he was caught while trying to break into another house in Bellandur. Incidentally, the accused named Pasha is behind 80 house break-ins, one of the house being that of Manjeet Kakoti whom we wrote about last month.

Unfortunately, the stolen items couldn’t be recovered from him yet. “The police say that jewellery is with his friend in Mangalore who is still absconding,” says Manjeet. “He showed the police my house and that’s how the Bellandur police informed me about his arrest. The artificial jewellery that he stole from my place is with the police, but all the gold valuables are missing. What the police has recovered from him is not even worth Rs 2000. Apparently, the thief’s friend took all the gold from him to sell in Mangalore.”

Last week, the 6th additional magistrate court ordered the HSR Layout police to file a complaint of fraud where a person allegedly forged and HSR Layout resident’s identity to steal Rs 32 lakh from the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KAIDB).

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the incident happened between July 6, 2011 and May 31, 2019 when the court finally ruled. The HSR cops filed the complaint of fraud on June 10, 2019 after the court order.

The story goes back to July 2011 when Ramaiah Krishnamurthy (58), a resident of Sector 2, HSR Layout, and the general power of attorney holder for M/S Nit.Nic.Inc proprietor Ramesh Babu, paid Rs 32 lakh to KAIDB through two Demand Drafts dated July 6, 2011 for Rs 5 lakh and on November 17, 2011 for Rs 27 lakh.

The money was to set up a aluminium copper conductor plant on a two-acre land in Harohalli Industrial Area. However, accused Anil Kumar allegedly faked Ramaiah’s signature and committed an identity theft to withdraw Rs 32 lakh from KIADB. After examining the complaint, the magistrate court asked the HSR police to file a case of cheating and take appropriate action against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including impersonation, cheating and forgery.

Businessman NR Shridhar Reddy (42) met three people at Krishnasagar restaurant on 27th Main in Sector 1. They promised to get him a loan on his building from Kotak Mahindra Bank.

However, they asked for Rs 30 lakh as a security deposit. It was in this connection that he met Shilpa Shetty, Manohar Lal, and his father at Krishnasagar. A resident of Doddanekkundi, Shridhar was in need of the loan and readily gave away six cheques totalling Rs 30.88 lakh on November 3, 2018 at around 2pm, according to the police complaint.

Once the bank loan came through, the alleged scamsters deposited the cheques on November 17, 2018 and December 3, 2018 and withdrew the entire amount. The HSR Layout cops have registered a case of cheating (IPC 420) and a criminal act by a group (IPC 34) and are investigating.

Twenty-two-year-old engineer Thirumale Gowda, a resident of Hassan, had applied for a visa through a consultancy firm in Sector 1, HSR Layout. However, the visa never came but the firm refused to refund the money.

According to the police complaint filed on June 5, 2019, the alleged scam occurred between December 28, 2018 and June 5, 2019. Gowda has accused Kali Prasad Rath of fraud.

Rath working for KT Consultancy operating out of 27th Main in Sector 1, allegedly took Rs 1.65 lakh from Gowda to get him a visa to go abroad. When Rath failed to get Gowda the promised visa, he asked for a refund. However, the cheque given by Rath bounced. A case of fraud under the Indian Penal Code 420 is registered by the HSR Layout police.

In a rare case, a chain snatching incident was averted by an alert cop last week in HSR Layout.

On June 14, at around 7.50pm, HSR Layout police constable Ningappa Kembavi (26 years) heard screams coming from 1st D Main Road in Sector 6, IAS officers colony, HSR Layout.

At the corner of the road, two vehicle-born thieves were trying to snatch the chain from one pedestrian. When the victim screamed, the constable rushed to the spot. Looking at the cop, the culprits drove away.

The cop gave a chase but the miscreants escaped in the darkness. When the constable rushed back to the victim, he realised that the chain was still hanging around the neck and the victim identified himself as Tirumalanath, a resident of Jayanagar. A case of attempted theft and punishment for the robbery attempt is registered at the HSR Layout police station.

The HSR Layout cops made a breakthrough in three cases of mobile phone and jewellery theft cases to not only catch three thieves but also recovered a two wheeler, a mobile phone and jewellery worth Rs 4.5 lakh.

Phone thieves
Mobile phone thefts have become common in HSR Layout. Either thieves enter homes and scoot with phones and laptops or snatch mobiles from passersby on roads. Thankfully, the HSR Layout cops have caught two mobile thieves who allegedly stole people’s phones.

One Oppo RealMe phone and a Honda Activa was also recovered during their arrest. The accused are Pawan Rao Pawar (21 years), a resident of Mysore and Praveen (19), a resident of Venkatapura, Koramangala.

The thieves were caught under the supervision of Somegowda GA and HSR inspector SR Raghavendra. The other cops included sub inspector Eranna, head constable Mallappa, and constable Lakshman Pawar.

Jewel thief of Mangammanapalya
In another incident, a salesman working at a jewellery store on 24th Main in Sector 1, was allegedly caught with Rs 4.5 lakh worth stolen jewellery.
The cops allege that salesman Syed Mohsin working with CaratLane stole gold and diamond jewellery on May 29, 2019 when no one was at the showroom and fled the scene.

Once the cops received the complaint, they launched a manhunt under the guidance of senior cops Isha Pant and Somegowda GA to eventually nab the alleged thief. According to the cops, Mohsin is aged 28 years and a resident of Mangammapalya. About Rs 4.5 lakh worth gold and diamond jewellery was also seized from him. The other cops who assisted in this operation included head constable Sardar Pasha and constable Tirumalegowda.