The north-east division police have arrested a gang of five habitual offenders who robbed two houses, including that of Ila Chandrasekhar (85), scientist and wife of renowned physicist Sivaramakrishnan Chandrasekhar.
Ila, who lives with her 55-year-old differently abled son, was robbed by three men in the last week of June. The men made away with Rs 30,000 in cash, four bangles and antique jewellery.
The Vidyaranyapura police identified the accused as N Y Nagaraj (30), Ravi Kumar (24), Gangadhar (45), Basavaraj (19) and Gangaraju, (25). All the accused are residents of Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapur district and entered the city on the pretext of searching for daily labour.
Easy targets
Meanwhile, the gang plotted to rob lone women residents and elderly citizens.
Kala Krishnaswamy (DCP North-East division) said her teams have recovered 750 gm of gold valuables worth Rs 25 lakh from the accused.
The gang had also robbed the residence of late Justice Rudrappa in Judicial Layout, Yelahanka. The police said the gang intimidated the judge's widowed wife before robbing her.
Following the two cases of robberies at Vidyaranyapura and Yelahanka, a special team was formed, which analysed CCTV footage and zeroed in on the gang members.
The accused had even prepared a list of senior citizens living in and around north-east Bengaluru and were planning their spate of robberies before they were arrested, DCP Kala said.