It was a typical Tuesday morning for trickster Uma, alias Durgi, who set out to the temple in Banashankari in Bengaluru where she usually carried out her theft plans. However, thanks to the work of six women constables from the Kumaraswamy Layout police station, she was caught and arrested.
Uma would frequent the temple in the locality and target elderly women and young children and steal their gold chains or other jewellery. She would frequent the temple on Tuesdays and Fridays as she believed those were her ‘lucky’ days. She would befriend elderly women and act really friendly to young children. After she gained their trust, she’d spend time with them in the temple and unsuspectingly steal a piece of jewellery from them.
Police officials estimate that she has stolen at least 35 chains from unsuspecting victims till date.
An increase in the number of thefts over the last few months, particularly during festival times, resulted in the temple authorities alerting the police. The cops then installed six plainclothes policewomen, including two of whom were pregnant, in the temple on Tuesday morning. The policewomen kept a watch on the temple premises and looked for any suspicious persons, when they spotted Uma and caught her in the act.
Uma was arrested and booked under Section 379 (punishment for theft).
Speaking to TNM, Bengaluru DCP South, Annamalai SP, said, “In the past, we have we have heard stories of a gang of robbers attacking lorry drivers on NICE road and have sent out plainclothes policemen to capture them, but this is the first time that we’ve undertaken such an operation with a group of women officers.”
As per the DCP, many temple authorities and victims of theft had given complaints over several months, which the cops then backtracked and looked through CCTV footage and set about capturing the culprit.
“We took note of what was in the CCTV footage, then over the past few weeks we sent our women constables in disguise to the temple to take note of any suspicious looking persons. They monitored the visitors to the temple very carefully and noticed the suspect, whom they eventually nabbed on Tuesday,” said Inspector Guruprasad of the Kumaraswamy Layout police station.
The DCP also asked the public to be alert when going to crowded places, saying, “Particularly during festival times, temples can get very crowded. People should be cautious when visiting these places and take care to ensure that they do not become victims of theft.”