Two juveniles with criminal aspirations stabbed a cabbie 32 times to rob him, but the long hand of law reached 1,200 kilometers to catch them.
The 16- and 17-year-old school dropouts from Bihar arrived in the city on April 16 wanting to rob people and return home with the loot. They skulked around a few places, having landed in Bommanahalli in Bengaluru South, and spotted the cab bearing the number plate KA-53-C-7606. They asked the 24-year-old cabbie, Dileep, to drop them at St John’s Hospital.
When Dileep asked them to book the cab, they said they were in an emergency and offered him Rs 200 for the ride. The duo stopped the cab near Ayyappa Swamy temple to get down but brandished a knife when Dileep asked them for money. They stabbed him. Although Dileep tried hitting back, they stabbed him 32 times, took Rs 12,000 in his possession and fled.
A group of autorickshaw drivers noticed the bleeding Dileep and alerted the police and rushed him to St John’s Hospital. Dileep, who hails from Holenarasipur in Hassan district, is said to be out of danger.
A team headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Madivala) Sudheer M Hegde and Madivala police inspector Paul Priyakumar found an ATM transaction receipt that could belong to the accused. They obtained the account holder’s mobile number from the bank. The number had been switched at the spot where the incident happened and was last traced at the Yeshwantpur railway station.
Police confirmed that the accused were on a moving train. A few officers flew to Pune, the rest went by road and a third team caught a train to Gujarat. Police traced the duo to Dahej village in Bharuch district in Gujarat in 58 hours.
Police recovered Rs 2,100 and two knives, and a written list of crimes they wanted to commit, which revealed their criminal aspiration.
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