Highly skilled international robbers' gang from Columbia burgled 31 houses in Bengaluru: Police
Bengaluru: A notorious international gang of robbers from Columbia allegedly burgled 31 houses, including that of former Karnataka chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, here over the past few years, police said on Thursday.
Interrogation of three members of the gang, arrested in March this year, brought to light their involvement in 31 burglaries, they said.
The arrested have been identified as Willian Padilla Martinez (48), Liedy Stefania Munoz Monsalve (23) and Christian Yeinis Navarro Olarte (34).
Their mastermind Gustavo was at large, police said.
"Gold worth Rs 2.58 crore, nine mm browning pistol and 23 live bullets, two motorcycles were recovered from their possession. On interrogation, they confessed that they burgled 31 houses and wanted to carry out a bank heist," a police release said.
The police were on the lookout for the trio when they tried to loot a house in October 2019. The gang members had entered the house by breaking the grill but when the police came there on getting information, they scaled the 15 feet high wall using the 'Parkour' technique.
This gave the police a clue about the involvement of Gustavo, who had burgled the house of Mukherjee in 2018 using the same method.
Subsequently, a team was constituted, which nabbed the gang members in March last near a petrol pump here.
During interrogation, the gang members revealed they had come to India via Nepal on a tourist visa and stayed in the service apartments in prime locations, police said, adding they would survey their target houses and plan the burglaries.
They had a mobile jammer, pepper spray, knife, drill bit machine of Bosch company, laser cutting machine, hardware tools, axle blade, ring spanner rods, cutting plier, flame gun, iron solder, and head torch.
"Their equipment is different and shocking because never in the past any thief has used them," police said.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
