House owner fires at thief from licenced gun, leaving him injured

BENGALURU: A businessman opened fire at a thief from his double-barrel gun when the latter was trying to gain entry into his house in the wee hours on Tuesday at Rachenahalli in Sampigehalli police limits. The injured thief was caught and has been hospitalised.

Venkatesh, who runs a water supply business, has a sprawling house in a lonely area and has installed CCTV cameras and has pet dogs. As usual, the dogs were let out in the compound as the family was deep in slumber.

Venkatesh’s house in Rachenahalli

Around 2.30 am, the dogs started barking loudly and Venkatesh, who was awaked by this, checked the CCTV footage. He then saw a man wearing a monkey cap and armed with a gas cutter jumping over the gates. Venkatesh then took his licenced DBBL gun and fired at the thief and the pellets hit him in the right leg and he collapsed near the compound.

The family members, who were awakened by the noise, immediately informed the Sampigehalli police who arrived there and shifted the thief to Bowring Hospital.

House owner Venkatesh and (right) the thief Venkatesh.

“I didn’t know if he was alone or whether he had other accomplices. To protect myself and my family, I fired at him. We have been living here for generations and since our house is in a lonely place, I had got a licenced gun in 2006. This is the first time a theft attempt was made at our house”, Venkatesh said. Interestingly, Venkatesh is not trained to use a firearm.

Venkatesh spotted the thief on CCTV camera.

During preliminary investigation, the police have learnt the the thief Lakshman hails from Bagalkot and used to target lonely houses on the outskirts of the city. The Sampigehalli police visited the spot and have taken up further investigation.