Venkatesh arrested in Tumakuru
Venkatesh, alias Kanikalabande Venkatesh, a 45-year-old habitual offender facing over two dozen criminal charges, was arrested by Tumakuru police while sitting near a boulder in the woods of Kadamalakunte, enjoying his liquor and chicken dinner. “Instead, he faces 12 criminal cases, including murder and dacoity. He, in the name of a Maoist, had tried to extort Rs 5 lakh from a fellow agriculturist in the village. But yes, he made our 150-plus police team work hard for one month.
ADGP (law and order) R Hitendra confirmed that the accused was not a Naxal.
The police team had used drones to get a clue about Venkatesh, who hid in the forest,” he said, adding: “We knew he was not a Naxal. Tumakuru : A month-long, high-stakes game of hide-and-seek in the dense jungles of Pavagada in Tumakuru ended late Tuesday night when police tapped into the one thing a local rowdy-sheeter couldn’t live without: his late-night feast of chicken and alcohol. Venkatesh never used a mobile phone, and this hobbled police investigation. No one knew where he was. Fanning out across the jungles, police combed the area and used drones. But all in vain. After exhausting the standard leads, Tumakuru police changed tactics. Recognising that Venkatesh depended on local couriers for survival, investigators discreetly tracked down his supply network instead of hunting him in the forest. Without raising suspicion, officers tailed a courier tasked with carrying cooked chicken and alcohol into the woods. Late Tuesday night, police quietly closed in on Venkatesh’s campsite, apprehending the rowdy-sheeter mid-meal near a large boulder and ending his month-long evasion. His act of setting off a crude bomb on a neighbour’s field was on account of personal rivalry. But catching him was a necessity to reveal to villagers what he really was.”