Kodagu Police have recently arrested thirteen people for allegedly pickpocketing Rs 1.96 lakh from leaders during a BJP rally in Kushalnagar and later during a party event held at Crystal Court Hall in Madikeri on March 27. Even former Speaker K G Bopaiah (KGB) was not spared.
The arrested persons have been identified as Jayanna, Puttaraju, Nagaraja, Venkatesh R, Umesh K, Jayanna, Bojappa, Mehboob, Subhash, Girish D and Balu from Bhadravati, Harisha from Bengaluru Habbagodi and Ranganna from Nelamangala.
Twenty mobile phones, two cars and Rs 2,65,960 in cash have been seized from the accused. The arrested are said to be interstate thieves.
The money was stolen from the pockets of BJP leaders MM Charan (Rs. 32,000), D H Chandrashekhar (Rs 50,000), Mani H (Rs 15,000) during a BJP program at Kushalnagar and Nitin HS (Rs 50,000), Yogesh (Rs 32,300), former Speaker KG Boapaiah (Rs 17,000) at the program held at Crystal Hall Madikeri.
The police had formed special teams to nab the thieves and on April 2, the suspects were produced before the court.
The police have requested people to be cautious while participating in crowded events.
