Drug addicts stone 19 cars to steal electronic gadgets

A gang of miscreants stole electronic gadgets from 19 stationary cars by smashing their windshields with stones in eastern Bengaluru on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

In Jeevan Bima Nagar, 12 cars parked on Church Road, Sudhanagar, were stoned by a gang of miscreants who arrived on motorcycles. The gang then took away the electronic gadgets installed in the cars.

In Ramamurthy Nagar, the windshields of seven cars parked outside homes in Gurumurthy Layout, near Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidya Kendra, were stoned and the gadgets were taken away.

Both the incidents emerged only on Monday morning, police said. “We suspect a single gang in both the incidents. We are reviewing the CCTV footage and will hunt down the suspects shortly,” a police officer said.

Police estimated the loss at Rs 10 lakh. Unconfirmed reports said a total of 40 cars, including a bus and a Tempo Traveller, were damaged.

Local residents said a gang of drug and alcohol addicts was behind the incidents. “Several youths are drug addicts in the locality, ” Manjunath, a car driver, told DH. Residents accused the police of being “indifferent” to their requests to crack down on the miscreants. “We see such incidents at least twice a month,” said Krishna, another residentt.