Udupi police arrest two for robbing 74-year-old woman of gold chain

Udupi: Udupi Town Police have arrested two men for allegedly entering the house of a 74-year-old woman living alone and forcibly snatching her gold chain. The police have recovered a gold chain, an electric scooter and two mobile phones worth a total of Rs 5.53 lakh from the accused.

The incident occurred on the evening of October 7, when two unidentified men visited the house of Shantha Karanth, 74, in Nittoor, claiming that they wanted to seek information about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. During the visit, the accused allegedly pushed the elderly woman to the ground, forcibly removed the gold chain weighing around 30 grams from her neck and fled.

Following a complaint, Udupi Town Police registered a case and launched an investigation. Acting on the leads gathered during the probe, the police arrested Vadiraaj Ganiga, 44, and Sachin, 30, at Mannapalla in Manipal on October 10.

During interrogation, the accused reportedly revealed that they had pledged the stolen gold chain at the Industrial Credit Co-operative Society in Manipal. The police subsequently recovered a gold chain weighing 34 grams and valued at Rs 4.50 lakh, an Ola electric scooter worth Rs 90,000 allegedly used in the crime, and two mobile phones valued at Rs 13,000.

According to the police, the accused allegedly committed the robbery to repay their debts and finance a luxurious lifestyle. The first accused was reportedly a neighbour of the elderly woman.

Both men were produced before a court, which remanded them to 14 days of judicial custody, the police said.

The operation was carried out by a team led by Police Inspector Mahesh Prasad under the direction of Udupi Superintendent of Police Hariram Shankar and the guidance of Additional Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Naik and Deputy Superintendent of Police Belliyappa.