BENGALURU: In a shocking twist, city police arrested a chain robber but during interrogation it emerged that he was working as a contract sanitation inspector with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The suspect had snatched the chain to raise funds for a film he was directing.
The accused, Rangappa (35), alias Pratap Rang, was arrested by Basaveshwar Nagar police while he was planning another robbery on October 28. Police said a total of 430 grams of gold chains worth Rs 1.2 million were seized from him. He is a resident of Mahalakshmi Layout near Ashokapuram.
According to police, Rangappa had been kidnapping women from Nandini Layout, Soladevanahalli, Rajarajeshwari Nagar and Puttenahalli areas for at least seven to eight months. A total of 10 cases have been registered against him in various police stations. Multiple police teams have been formed under the command of DCP (West) MN Anuchet and ACP (Vijayanagar) Parmeshwar Hegde to nab the suspects.
Of these, a team formed by personnel from Basaveshwara Nagar police station under Inspector Somashekhar G managed to arrest Rangappa red-handed.
Police sources said Rangappa was arrested because police had received prior information about his attempted thefts through an informant. Inspector Somashekar said Rangappa’s modus operandi was to enter houses when only women were present and snatch the chains. He would often reach through the window to snatch the chains from women sitting near it.
Besides chain snatching and directing films, Rangappa was also working as a health inspector on contract in BBMP’s Cottonpete ward (ward number 120). His upcoming film is titled “Double Meaning” and a promotional video for the film, uploaded on September 14 this year, is available on YouTube and has already garnered 1.3 million views. Rangappa is mentioned in the video’s description as the director and producer of the film and he used to commit robberies to raise funds for the film, police said.