08 April,2009 09:21 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
In the latest edition, they use excreta to distract their victim
The latest weapon in the divert-and-dash ploy is human excreta. Ask Syed Abdul Rahim, an employee of Amanath Co-operative Bank.
Rahim was returning to office after collecting loan instalments from customers when a 12-year-old boy threw excreta on him near Kumbarpet. The boy asked him to wash up at a public tap. A suspicious Rahim went into the mosque to wash since he was carrying cash with him. But the boy followed him, took the handbag which Rahim was cleaning up, and sprinted away.u00a0 Rahim managed to chase him and even raised an alarm but the boy escaped. The bag had Rs 15,000, Rahim told Ulsoorgate police in his complaint.
Similar incident
In a similar incident, a 47-year-old engineer was robbed of Rs 70,000 in front of Canara Bank in Peenya.
Madhusoodhan was getting on his bike after withdrawing cash when a man told him that he had dropped a few notes. Thanking the "Samaritan", Madhusoodhan went to pick up the currency notes dropped nearby. But he realised his mistake when he returned to find the man and his bag gone.
Beware, says police
According to police, a full-fledged gang targets people carrying heavy cash around business places, commercial areas and banks.
Commissioner of police S M Bidari has warned people to be extra careful and has even organised public awareness programmes. The police wants banks to alert their security guards to keep an eye on conmen moving suspiciously.
Earlier cases
Case 1
On April 2, crooks spat on Narasimha (22) at the entrance of ING Vysya Bank on Wheeler's Road and escaped with Rs 1 lakh.
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Case 2
On April 2, two men at a petrol bunk told Dr Meghana that petrol was leaking from her car. She got out to check but when she returned, she found her handbag containing medical apparatus, Rs 2,000 and credit and debit cards missing.
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Case 3
Last month, a youth puked on a man who had justu00a0 withdrawn Rs 1 lakh from a bank. When the victim,u00a0 Neelkantha, went to a nearby tea stall, the youth's associate, a 12 year-old-boy swiped the briefcase that had the money, and ran away.
