BENGALURU: A 36-year-old murder convict on parole donned a khaki uniform and confidently walked into the house of a realtor in Byadarahalli, in the north-western part of the city, claiming he had come to check CCTV footage for clues in an old case. Later calling his three associates, the convict gagged the realtor, H Hombalaiah, and his wife and robbed them of Rs 20 lakh in cash, around 670 grams of gold, and other valuables. Hombalaiah filed a complaint with Byadarahalli police stating that he was robbed by a gang led by a man in a “khaki uniform”. The incident took place on the evening of February 16. Aware of miscreants targeting independent houses, Hombalaiah had installed CCTV cameras outside the main door and used to converse with visitors through a video call. The door would open only when Hombalaiah pressed a remote or manually unlocked it. “That evening, the calling bell rang and a man in a khaki uniform introduced himself as a sub-inspector from Yelahanka police station. He told me he had come to check the CCTV footage of my house in connection with an old case. Trusting him, I opened the door through the remote and he walked in,” Hombalaiah explained. The man was none other than K Nagendra, who was convicted to life imprisonment in a murder case reported in Tiptur in Tumakuru district in 2016. Nagendra, popularly known as ‘Naga’ inside prison, is also facing 16 criminal cases, including robbery and dacoity. Nagendra asked Hombalaiah whether he could download the footage, to which Hombalaiah replied in the negative. “My men will do it,” Nagendra said, and called his associates who were waiting outside in a car. Two of them walked in while another waited in the vehicle. However, Nagendra and the others held the Hombalaiah couple at knifepoint and gagged them. Asking Hombalaiah to show the cash and valuables, Nagendra and his associates ransacked the cupboards and fled. “When we reached the crime scene, we collected scientific and circumstantial evidence. We also obtained CCTV footage that captured their car. On studying these details, we discovered that one of the suspects was Nagendra, who had been convicted in a murder case. Records showed that he was lodged in Hindalaga prison in Belagavi,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Dr L Nagesh said. Police quickly contacted prison officials at Hindalaga and found that Nagendra had returned to his cell on February 17, the day after the offence, from a 30-day parole. Prison records showed that Nagendra had walked out on February 9 and was supposed to return after 30 days. “It was during the parole period that Nagendra carried out the robbery. We first took Nagendra into custody and he spilled the beans during questioning. Based on his statements, we arrested two more suspects from Shivamogga. There is a fourth suspect in the case who is currently in the custody of Malleshwaram police in connection with a theft case. We will take him into our custody soon,” an investigating officer said. The other accused arrested are Sheik Ahmed, 31, and Jameer Chandpeer alias Bachha, 33, both from Shivamogga. The fourth suspect is Babajan alias Tomato, 27, also from Shivamogga. Police recovered Rs 10 lakh in cash and 429 grams of gold ornaments. How and why they hatched the plot “Nagendra is from Shivamogga and had known the others for a long time. A stamp vendor from the city, who is a common friend of Nagendra and Hombalaiah, knew that Hombalaiah kept large amounts of cash and gold at home. However, the stamp vendor never shared the information with any bad intention. Nagendra decided to rob Hombalaiah after learning about it. He gave details of Hombalaiah to the others and they watched him for over two weeks. Meanwhile, they kept in touch with Nagendra. Finally, Nagendra, who came out on parole in the second week of February, roped in the others and carried out the robbery,” the investigating officer said.
