Kushalnagar: The police have achieved a major stride in the infamous Hosapatna Robbery case by nabbing the mastermind of the crime with the help of the public on Thursday, December 1. Kingpin H T Krishna has been arrested and stolen cash and valuables recovered from him, disclosed Superintendent of Police Dr. Rajendraprasad.
Addressing the media at Kushalnagar Rural Police Station, the SP said accused Krishna was tracked down based on the information given by five of his accomplices arrested earlier. During the interrogation, they revealed to the police that Krishna is an autorickshaw driver based at Mangaladevi stand in Madikeri and had gone missing from the time of the robbery. Based on a clue that Krishna would be visiting his hideout anytime to take the stolen items, the cops waited undercover in the vicinity and nabbed him in the act and recovered the loot from him.
The booty recovered includes Rs. 6, 25, 930 cash, a 12-layered pearl chain, a gold necklace, 2 long earrings, a gold pendant and gloves, plastic tape and ropes used for executing the crime.
SP has lauded the Kushalnagar DySP Sampathkumar, Circle Inspector Kyathe Gowda, Inspector (Crime) Mahesh Kumar, Sub Inspectors Mahesh, Anoop Madappa, Jagadish and rest of the staff Jayaprakash, Sudeesh, Saji, Lokesh Manjunath, Suresh, Nagaraj, Mohan and others for cracking the case in a very short span A reward of Rs. 20000 has been announced for the team.
The Robbery:
Prime accused Krishna had borrowed an amount of Rs 1. 5 Lakh from one Shariff of Madikeri. When pressure mounted on Krishna to repay the loan, he told Sheriff about a vital information about H B Shivakumar’s wealth and surroundings given to him by his friend Vijaykumar working in the Survey Department. Vijaykumar had also told Krishna that Shivakumar stayed alone at his place.
Three months before the robbery, Krishna had checked out Shivakumar’s residence with the help of Vijaykumar. On November 22, Shariff also accompanied Krishna to take a peek of the area surrounding Shivakumar’s house. After that they chalked out a plan and contacted an acquaintance Nizam in Mangalore. The duo instructed Nizam to get a vehicle and seven members along with him to Madikeri.
Here they finalised the modus operandi and took shelter at Shariff’s sister’s house behind Baichanahalli Masjid in Kushalnagar on November 23. On November 24 morning, the whole gang started towards Hosapatna in Nizam’s Innova after changing its registration number plate. As per the plan, Krishna instructed Nizam to wait in the vehicle and the rest of the members to hide in the farm surrounding Shivakumar’s house. They waited there till the door of the house was opened.
As soon as Shivakumar’s cousin Vishwanath opened the door, the gang pounced on him. After tying him down and shutting his mouth with a plaster, they grabbed Shivakumar and rendered him motionless and speechless.
When the gang was making away with the loot through the farm, a woman witnessed it and screamed. Hearing the cry, a scared Nizam dumped his accomplices and fled with the Innova. The baffled gang then ran helter-skelter through the farm into the jungles.
In a swift action, the police along with the dog squad and members of the public nabbed five members of the gang first before laying their hand on mastermind Krishna on Thursday. All the valuables and cash looted from Shivakumar’s house have been recovered.
A special team has been formed to nab Shariff of Madikeri, Saliyath and Nizam of Dakshina Kannada. SP Dr. Rajendraprasad has expressed confidence that the trio and vehicle used for the crime will be in police custody soon. Informant surveyor Vijaykumar has applied for leave in his office and is absconding. Vijaykumar had a thorough knowledge about the scene of crime since he was earlier a tenant at Shivakumar’s house.
