In a swift operation, police in Chikkaballapura, Karnataka, arrested four individuals involved in a brazen robbery where the victim was attacked with chilli powder and robbed of Rs 7.5 lakh.
Four men were arrested for allegedly robbing Rs 7.5 lakh from a man here by throwing chilli powder into his eyes and threatening him with a machete in this district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Yashwanth, Darshan, Bharath and Vishakantamurthy, were arrested within just three hours of the crime, they said.
The incident occurred on May 11 in Vinayakanagar area of Gauribidanur, police said.
With their arrests, police claimed to have recovered the entire robbed amount.
According to police, Shivashankara Aradhya runs an eatery and had arranged Rs 14 lakh after selling his family jewellery to purchase cars to start a new travel business by leasing vehicles. As he was leaving his house with a portion of the cash to purchase a vehicle, two unidentified men arrived on a motorcycle near his residence, threw chilli powder into his eyes, threatened him with a machete, and snatched a bag containing Rs 7.5 lakh before fleeing.
Following the victim's complaint, a case was registered at the Gauribidanur Town Police Station, police said.
During the investigation, police detained Yashwanth, who had allegedly persuaded the victim to purchase cars for the travels business, a senior police officer said.
During questioning, he reportedly confessed to conspiring with his associates to commit the robbery, he said.
Acting on the information, police teams separately tracked down and arrested his three associates who were involved in the offence, he said.
With their arrests, robbed amount of Rs 7.5 lakh, a car and the motorcycle allegedly used in the crime, along with the machete were recovered, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.