Bengaluru (Karnataka): When V Selvaraj returned from his native village in Tamil Nadu to his Bengaluru house, he had a shock of his life. The road roller he had parked before leaving the town is nowhere to be seen. The police investigation, after he filed a complaint, revealed that three persons from the locality managed to take away the massive machine and broke it into three pieces and sold them to a scrap dealer.
The incident happened in Bengaluru's Chandra Layout. The owner of the vehicle, Selvaraj bought the vehicle from a Tamil Nadu-based man for rupees 2 lakhs. He had parked the vehicle on a nearby ground after the city shut down due to COVID19 related lockdown. Since he did not have any work in the city with the machine, Selvaraj went to Tamil Nadu on May 25.
When he returned to his house in Chandra Layout on June 19, the road roller was nowhere to be seen. Terrified, the man filed a complaint with Chandra Layout Police station. A preliminary police investigation revealed that the roller was taken away from the spot using a truck. Further investigation from CCTV footage revealed that one Vinay from Nagarbhavi is the main culprit. Along with his accomplice Pawan Kumar a resident of Kamakshipaliya, the accused has taken the vehicle from Chandra Layout to Seegehalli near Anna Baidarahalli.
They have roped in a scrap dealer Ismail to dismantle the machine. The 7800 kgs weighing vehicle was cut into three pieces using gas-cutters and Ismail agreed to pay Rs 28 per kilogram of scrap from the dismantled road roller. While police have nabbed Pawan Kumar, they are looking out for the main accused Vinay and the scrap dealer Ismail.
