Thief 'armed' with pistol steals cash from brewery in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, May 12 (PTI): A thief carrying a pistol, broke into a brewery in north Bengaluru and stole cash, police said on Monday.
The incident occurred at the Geometry Brewery and Kitchen on the Gayatri Nagar road under the Subramanyanagar Police station limits here between 3.30 am and 4 am.
According to police, the suspect gained entry through the back door and stole around Rs 50,000 to 60,000 in cash.
"The watchman complained that a thief had entered with a weapon, and on noticing him he shut the door and alerted the police at 4:30-5 am. On police verification the thief was not inside but the CCTV cameras were switched off. Maybe a person had come for robbery and prima facie it appears that there was a theft. Based on the FIR, further investigation will be done," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Saidulu Adavath said.
Addressing reporters here, he quoted the security guard as saying that the burglar was carrying a weapon, which needs to be ascertained.
"It is true that a thief broke in, but he was carrying a pistol in his hand is not confirmed. The watchman had seen the suspect from a distance, he was wearing a mask. His statement about a thief carrying a weapon may be his misconception. It will be investigated," he added.
The entire building was searched and the thief was not found. The police suspect that he might have escaped through the bathroom or kitchen at night.
The brewery was closed by 1.30 am, and the thief is said to have entered through the emergency gate from behind, while the watchman was at the front. Upon hearing some noise, he went inside and saw the thief.
The watchman does not how and when the thief exited, they said.
The DCP said that only one person had come and the cash counter was found broken open.
"Based on the complaint, we will file a FIR and investigate it," he said.
In #Bengaluru: Cops cordoned off the area around Geometry Brewery & Kitchen in Subramanyanagar after info that a person armed with a small weapon had entered the premises in the early hours, search is on. (Burglary suspected) pic.twitter.com/9VD04uEag9
— TOI Bengaluru (@TOIBengaluru) May 12, 2025
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High courts upheld only 8 per cent of death sentences; SC confirms none in recent years: Report
New Delhi (PTI): Highlighting that a high acquittal rate of death row convicts by the Supreme Court and high courts demonstrates a pattern of "erroneous or unjustified convictions", a study of 10 years of death penalty data has revealed that the top court did not confirm any death sentences in recent years.
The study by Square Circle Clinic, a criminal laws advocacy group with the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad, found that an overwhelming majority of death sentences imposed by trial courts did not withstand scrutiny at higher judicial levels. Acquittals far outnumbered confirmations at both the high courts and Supreme Court levels.
According to the report, the trial courts across India awarded 1,310 death sentences in 822 cases between 2016 and 2025. High courts considered 842 of these sentences in confirmation proceedings but upheld only 70 or 8.31 per cent.
In contrast, 258 death sentences (30.64 per cent) resulted in acquittals. The study noted that the acquittal rate at the high court level was nearly four times the confirmation rate.
Data showed that of the 70 death sentences confirmed by high courts, the Supreme Court decided 38 and did not uphold a single one. The apex court has confirmed no death sentences between 2023 and 2025.
"Wrongful or erroneous or unjustified convictions, then, are not random or freak accidents in the Indian criminal justice system. The data indicates they are a persistent and serious systemic concern," the report said.
Over the last decade, high courts adjudicated 1,085 death sentences in 647 cases, confirming only 106 (9.77 per cent). During this period, 326 persons in 191 cases, were acquitted.
The report attributed low confirmation rates to the appellate judiciary’s concerns regarding failures in due process. "This coincides with increased Supreme Court scrutiny of safeguards at the sentencing stage," the report said.
Of the 153 death sentences decided by the apex court over the last decade, the accused were acquitted in 38 cases. In 2025 alone, high courts overturned death sentences into acquittals in 22 out of 85 cases (over 25 per cent). The same year, Supreme Court acquitted accused persons in more than half of the death penalty cases it decided (10 out of 19), the report said.
The study highlighted that 364 persons who were ultimately acquitted "should not even have been convicted and unjustifiably suffered the trauma of death row". It added that such failures extend beyond adjudication and reflect serious lapses in investigation and prosecution.
The question of remedies for wrongful convictions remains pending before the Supreme Court. In September 2025, three persons acquitted by the apex court filed writ petitions seeking compensation from the state and argued that their wrongful convictions violated their fundamental right to life and liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
"In 2022, the Supreme Court crystallised a sentencing process in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh , and mandated all courts to follow those guidelines before imposing or confirming a death sentence," the report read.
In 2025, the apex court held in Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. Union of India that death penalty sentencing hearings form part of the right to a fair trial and stressed that capital punishment can be imposed only after a constitutionally compliant sentencing process.
"However, even at the high courts whether the process mandated under Manoj is being complied with is in doubt,” the report said.
