Vijayanagara district police apprehended three individuals, including a private bus driver and conductor, for orchestrating a gold heist involving a man posing as a police officer to steal 806 grams of gold worth ₹61.25 lakh. The stolen gold has been successfully recovered.
The incident occurred on the night of March 16 when four jewelry designers handed over parcels containing gold ornaments in Davangere for delivery to Vijayapura via a private bus. Conductor Krishna Lakkappa Lamani was entrusted with the parcels. Around 12:30 am, near Teligi in Harapanahalli taluk, a man posing as a Davangere crime branch officer stopped the bus, accused the conductor of illegal gold transport and seized the parcel. Krishna later informed the sender, claiming he was taken in their vehicle before his phone went off.
Growing suspicious, Kumar, one of the jewelry designers, filed a police complaint on March 17. Under the supervision of SP Shrihari Babu and ASP Salim Pasha, multiple teams were deployed across Vijayapura, Shivamogga, and Davangere. Within 24 hours, police arrested the accused: bus driver Manjunath (39) from Shivamogga, conductor Krishna Lakkappa Lamani (26) from Haveri, and Nityananda Krishna Naik (33) from Davangere, who impersonated a police officer. Investigations revealed the heist was premeditated, with the driver and conductor colluding with Nityananda, a former finance company employee, to execute the crime.
Along with the recovered gold, police seized three mobile phones and a car used in the crime. The operation was led by Harapanahalli DSP Venkatappa Nayak, CPI Nagaraj M Kammar, CPI Deepak Boosareddy, and other officers, earning commendation from the SP for their swift action.