Harapanahalli police have arrested three individuals for orchestrating a gold theft worth Rs61.3 lakh during its private bus transport from Davanagere to Vijayapura. The gold, weighing 806 grams, was stolen around midnight on Sunday aboard a Shivamogga-Vijayapura bus, SP Sriharibabu BL confirmed on Wednesday.
The accused are:
Manjunath (39) – Bus driver, resident of Holehonnur, Bhadravati taluk
Krishna Lakkappa Lamani (26) – Bus conductor, resident of Guttal Thanda, Haveri district
Nityananda (33) – Former finance company employee, resident of Kerekatte village, Channagiri taluk
According to the police, goldsmiths and traders regularly trust this specific private bus for transporting valuables. However, the accused colluded to steal the parcels, with Nityananda posing as a fake crime branch officer.
On March 16, multiple parcels were handed to the conductor in Davanagere. By 12:30 a.m. at Telgi (Harapanahalli taluk), Krishna called a sender, Kumar, claiming a police officer from the Davanagere crime branch had seized his parcel. He asked Kumar to visit the station with documents to retrieve the gold.
Suspicious, Kumar reported the incident to Harapanahalli police on March 17. The driver, who had reached Vijayapura, was apprehended and during interrogation, confessed to the plot.
Police seized three mobile phones and the vehicle used in the crime. The case was cracked by a team including DSP Venkatappa Nayak, CPI Nagaraj M Kammar, CPI Deepak Boosareddy, and PSIs, under the leadership of SP Sriharibabu BL and ASP Salim Pasha.