Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jan 29: In connection with a case in which a gang posing as income tax officials had barged into the house of a real estate businessman and robbed him, five persons including a journalist have been arrested by the Sanjay Nagar police here.

The arrested persons are M Manjunath (35) from Sanjay Nagar, Mohammed Shoaib Rabbani alias Fakr Ali (32), T C Prashanth Kumar (40) from Sahakara Nagar, Y C Durgesh (30) from Yeshwantpur and K Kumar (40) from R T Nagar. Rs 1.7 lac in cash, two pistols and a car used for the crime were seized from the possession of the accused.

The accused had raided the residence of R Chetan, resident of Kadmat Layout in Sanjay Nagar at 8.45 am on January 23 in the guise of income tax officials. They had robbed Rs 3.5 lac in cash found in the cupboard and a pistol before fleeing. Chetan initially believed them to be income tax officials. In the afternoon, he grew suspicious and then filed a police complaint. In an operation led by Sanjay Nagar police inspector, J Balraj, the police found that it was a fake raid. Later, the accused were arrested.

Manjunath, who was the brain behind the raid, was found to be in possession of a pistol. The accused, during his questioning claimed that it is just an airgun. The pistol has since been sent to forensic science laboratory for testing, the officials said.

Chetan is a LLB student of a private college here, while his father, Ramesh, was a realtor. Ramesh had died a year back. Chetan had thereafter brought some documents and licensed pistol from his father's office home. He had continued with his father's business.

Manjunath is a sub-editor working for a weekly. He knew about Ramesh's real estate business and had intimidated him to pay him money in the past by threatening to expose dealings. He knew that Ramesh gets a huge amount of money in the form of rent. The accused, Mohammed Shoaib Rabbani and Durgesh raided the house by flashing their fake identity cards, in the guise of income tax officials. They had left duly telling Chetan to come to the office as and when summoned. The other three accused stood outside, having a close watch on the movements around the area. After Durgesh and Shoaib came out, all the five escaped in a car, the police said. It is said that the gang also planned to rob rich persons in Vijayawada by raiding their houses as income tax officers.

The police who checked CCTV footage nearby, got clues about the accused. They also got information from the location of mobile towers that the accused were in Vijayawada. A police team went there and brought the accused here. The police got to know that they had conducted two similar raids in the city in the past.