Incidents occur on the night of Aug. 12; Mandya SP visits spot

Srirangapatna: Gangs looting commuters on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway are back in action and in two incidents reported on Saturday night, two couples fell victim to daring robberies.

In the first incident, Shivaprasad and his wife Suma from Udupi district were robbed by two bike-borne criminals when they had parked their car near a Bharat Benz Company at Naguvanahalli Gate in Srirangapatna. The couple had parked their car to take some rest and two armed miscreants approached them on a motorcycle.

Wearing full helmets to conceal their identity, the assailants brazenly confronted the couple, brandishing their weapons. Faced with this terrifying threat, Shivaprasad and Suma had no choice but to surrender their 30-gram gold chain. The assailants later fled the scene and vanished in the dark.

In a chillingly similar incident on the same night, Dr. Rakshit Reddy and his wife Dr. Manasa from Malur in Kolar district experienced a similar ordeal. They were heading to Mysuru from Bengaluru and were changing a flat tyre near Gowripura in Srirangapatna taluk.

The criminals, following a similar modus operandi, approached the couple with faces obscured by helmets. With a knife drawn, the couple was coerced into surrendering their 40-gram gold chain. The thieves swiftly vanished from the scene, leaving the victims shaken and traumatised.

The audacity of these back-to-back incidents prompted the intervention of Mandya Superintendent of Police (SP) N. Yathish, who personally visited both crime scenes yesterday. Srirangapatna Police have initiated formal investigations into both cases. They are actively exploring leads and gathering evidence to apprehend the perpetrators.

The Police have urged the residents and commuters to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities.