Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi
Udupi, Aug 6: In a significant breakthrough, the Shirva police have seized 248.76 grams of gold ornaments and solid gold worth Rs 22.32 lac and arrested two individuals, including a key accomplice in the sale of stolen jewellery.
The arrested include Uppala resident K E Mohammed, who allegedly received and attempted to sell stolen gold handed over by notorious inter-district thief Itte Barpe Abubakkar, earlier arrested by the Shirva police.
The case pertains to a theft that occurred on the night of June 27 at the residence of Pavithra Poojarthy near Babbaraya Daivasthana in Mattaru under Shirva police station limits. The thieves had broken open the window hooks and latch to enter the house and made away with approximately 137 grams of gold ornaments. A case was registered at Shirva police station.
Acting on leads, the Shirva police apprehended the prime suspect Itte Barpe Abubakkar on July 21 at Moodbidri and recovered 66.76 grams of gold jewellery worth around Rs 7.50 lac, along with the scooter used in the crime. He was remanded to judicial custody.
Upon interrogation, Abubakkar revealed that he had handed over stolen gold ornaments from the Shirva case and previous thefts to K E Mohammed of Uppala for sale. Based on this, police arrested Mohammed and recovered 182 grams of gold related to cases registered at Shirva, Padubidri, and Karkala rural police stations in Udupi district. He too has been remanded to judicial custody.
The operation was carried out under the direction of Udupi district superintendent of police Hariram Shankar, with guidance from additional SP Sudhakar S Naik and Karkala ASP Dr Harsha Priyamvada. The investigation was led by Kaup circle inspector Jayashree S Mane, supported by Shirva PSI Manjunath Marabath, crime PSI Lohith Kumar S, Padubidri PSI Anil Kumar T Naik and other staff including Manjunath Adiga, Anwar Ali Siddharayappa, Kiran, Manjunath Hosamani, Basavaraj, Sridhar Shettigar, and personnel from the circle office including Riyaz Ahmed, Sharanappa, Jeevan, Pavanangi, Dinesh, and vehicle drivers Jagadish and Prakash, as well as Dinesh from the CDR wing and Bheemappa from Ajekaru station.
The theft at Mattaru, a rural area without CCTV surveillance, was taken seriously by Shirva police. Under the leadership of PSI Manjunath Marabath and crime PSI Lohith, two teams were formed and operations were conducted across five districts — Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Gadag, and Mangaluru — to track down the accused.
Itte Barpe Abubakkar is a seasoned inter-district thief, and his arrest has shed light on his involvement in multiple theft cases across various districts. Despite the absence of CCTV in the crime area, police utilised CDR data and examined footage from nearly 200 CCTV cameras in and around Shirva village, which proved crucial in tracing the accused.
PSI Manjunath Marabath urged the public to understand the importance of CCTV surveillance for effective crime prevention and investigation.