Cop who arrested 14 Dandupalya gang members says they are lying low but are plotting their next deadly moves.
Cop who arrested 14 Dandupalya gang members says they are lying low but are plotting their next deadly moves.The threat of the dreaded Dandupalya gang looms large over the state despite 12 gang members having received the death sentence last month. Police say as many as 28 members of the gang are still at large, waiting for a chance to strike at their chosen targetsu00a0-- people who stay alone in their houses.
In Danger : N Chalapathyu00a0is facing a death threat from the gang as
he did not accept their bribe to book them only in cases of theft. File pics"Blame it on the lack of coordination of the police. Members of this gang, which is involved in at least 407 murder and dacoity cases, have been caught but booked only for theft. Many have received bail and are plotting their next moves," said Deputy Superintendent of Police, and investigating officer in the case, N Chalapathy.
As an inspector, Chalapathy had arrested 14 gang members and got them convicted in court. 12 received the death sentence, one died in jail and one was let off on bail. The Mysore police arrested 5 Dandupalya gang members too, but all of them got bail.
23 more accused, who are involved in many murder, dacoity, extortion and rape cases are wanted by the police but have not been traced. Chalapathy, who is facing a death threat from the gang himself because he did not accept their bribe to let them off, said the gang members are lying low because many of their fellow gangsters are being tried in court. He warned that if the wanted criminals start attacking again, many people who live alone would lose their lives.
How they do itu00a0u00a0
The gang identifies houses where people live alone and then keep watch for a few hours. One gang member, preferably a woman, knocks the door and pretends to be a beggar. As soon as the door opens, other members barge in and overpower the victim.
They either slice the victim's throat or hit him on the head with a crowbar to ensure that he cannot raise an alarm. Chalapathy said that if the victim is a woman, the member who kills her gets to rape her first while others loot valuables. This makes the gang particularly deadly as all the members vie to be the first to kill the victim. The gang uses weapons wrapped in cloth to avoid making noise and calling attention to themselves.
BribeChalapathy said the gang offered him half a kilogramme of gold valuables in return for booking them only for theft. "When I did not budge, they issued death threats to me and even threatened to kill the magistrate and the public prosecutor," he recalled.
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Kumar (22): Involved in 28 cases including five murders
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Lakshmana alias Ashokau00a0 (32): Involved in 26 cases, including two murders Muttappau00a0 alias Mutta (20): Involved in 23 cases, including two murders
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Muniamma (20): Wanted in four criminal cases
Jagga alias Jagannath (26): Involved in 16 cases, including two murders and 12 dacoities
Saroja alias Rani (35): Involved in 13 dacoity cases
Venkatesh alias Nagaraju alias Raju (22): Involved in 13 dacoity cases
Krishna alias Munia (38): Involved in 10 dacoity cases
Vasantha (24): Involved in seven murder cases
Narayana alias Muninarayana (28): Involved in four dacoity cases
Manjamma alias Taslima (20): Involved in four theft cases
Kavitha alias Chinnamma (18): Involved in four theft cases
Munivenkatappa (32): Involved in one dacoity case
Ratnamma (22): Involved in one dacoity case
Babu alias Thangaraju alias Santosh (25): Involved in one theft case |
