Bengaluru, March 10 Three men were arrested for allegedly stealing gold jewellery and cash worth lakhs from the house of a real estate businessman here by posing as police officers and entering the premises under the pretext of checking CCTV footage related to a case, police said on Tuesday.
With the arrest of the accused, 429 grams of gold jewellery and Rs 10 lakh in cash, worth a total of Rs 52.90 lakh, have been seized from the stolen assets, they said.
The matter came to light on February 16 when the resident of BEL Layout here lodged a complaint at the Byadarahalli police station, police said.
According to the complaint, while he and his wife were at home that afternoon, a man introduced himself as a Police Sub-Inspector from the Yelahanka police station and said he wanted to check the CCTV footage of the house in connection with an ongoing case.
When the victim told him that he didn't know how to operate the CCTV monitor, the accused brought one of his associates who pretended to operate the CCTV monitor, he alleged.
After locking the door, the accused in uniform threatened the complainant and his wife with a knife, tied their hands and legs, a senior police officer said.
The accused then stole about 677 grams of various gold ornaments kept in a cupboard in a room, Rs 20 lakh in cash, and two mobile phones before fleeing, he said.
During the investigation, police gathered information that the main accused involved in the theft was released on parole from Hindalga Jail in Belagavi. After committing the theft at the house in Bengaluru, he returned to jail, he added.
Later, he was taken into police custody, during which he revealed the names of two other accomplices, police said.
He also disclosed that part of the stolen jewellery had been kept in one of his accomplices' house in Shivamogga, while the remaining was hidden at his house in RR Nagar, they said.