Mangaluru police attach properties of sureties of absconding accused

The Mangaluru police have so far attached properties of those who gave sureties to accused in 17 serious criminal cases, and also recovered surety amount in 11 cases, in their effort to make accused who failed to appear for a long time before the trial courts.

Talking to reporters in Mangaluru on Saturday, Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy said six months ago, instructions were given to all police stations to secure all absconding accused in serious criminal cases including murder, dacoity, rape, attempt to murder, communal murder and stone throwing incidents.

The police identified 38 notorious crime accused against whom courts had issued warrants for the cases registered in the period between 1998 and 2023. Of them, the city police so far have arrested 13 absconding accused persons and produced them before related courts.

He said the city police moved city courts for recovery of surety amount ranging between ₹ 10,000 and ₹1 lakh in 11 cases. The police also moved courts for attachment of properties of sureties in 17 cases. Separate proceedings were initiated in two cases where sureties were found to have submitted fake property documents to the court at the time grant of bail to absconding accused.

Mr. Reddy lauded efforts put in by the team of Urwa Police led by Police Inspector Shyam Sundar in arresting 55-year-old Chikka Hanuma, an alleged member of Dandupalya Gang, who was absconding in a double murder case registered in Urwa Police Station in October 1997. Mr. Reddy made special mention of effort by police constable Lalita Lakshmi in finding that Chikka Hanuma was living in Andhra Pradesh with a changed name Krishnappa alias Krishna, which helped other members of team to trace him out.

Mr. Reddy said Chikka Hanuma was an accused in 13 criminal cases, including the double murder case in Urwa in Mangaluru. He was accused in four murder cases in Bengaluru, three murder cases in Mysuru, two in Hubballi, and one murder case each in Mandya, Shivamogga and Tumkur. In seven murder cases, the remaining accused persons have been sentenced to life, while in Urwa double murder case, the remaining accused were acquitted.

Apart from the Urwa case, Chikka Hanuma will be produced before the courts in the remaining 12 murder cases. After filing of chargesheet, the jurisdictional courts will hold trial against Chikka Hanuma, Mr. Reddy said.