Date:29/07/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/29/stories/2005072918280300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

150 medicine cartons taken away from pharma company's godown

Staff Reporter

Armed men attack guards before breaking open godown's rolling shutters

AFTER THE CRIME: Guards Vittal and Hanumantha showing the rolling shutters broken open by the dacoits with crowbars at the godown of Alchem Laboratories, in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

BANGALORE: Armed dacoits attacked three security guards of a pharmaceutical company godown in the Rajajinagar industrial area and looted huge quantity of medicines in the early hours of Thursday.

The police said the incident occurred around 3 a.m. at the godown of Alchem Laboratories. A group of 10 men, who came in a lorry, jumped over the compound wall and attacked the three security guards, Vittal, Ranganath and Hanumantha, who were on duty there, and tied them up before entering the godown by breaking open the rolling shutters with crowbars.

The dacoits loaded nearly 150 cartons of medicines into the lorry and sped away. The cartons mainly contained antibiotic injections and tablets, worth lakhs of rupees, the police said.

After the dacoits left, a watchman of an adjoining industry rushed to the godown and freed the three guards. On being alerted, the Regional Manager of Alchem Laboratories, Prabhu, and the godown in-charge, Sundaresh, came there and informed the police.

The Kamakshipalya police have registered a case. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (West), K.V. Sharathchandra, and other senior officials visited the spot.

This is the second such incident to be reported from the city this year.

On March 23, a group of 10 persons in a lorry assaulted the security guards of Nicholas Piramal India Ltd.'s godown at Nayandahalli on Mysore Road and made away with 100 cartons of medicines.

Three months later, in June, the Madivala sub-division police arrested three persons from Hyderabad and recovered from them medicines worth Rs. 32 lakhs they had allegedly looted from the Nicholas Piramal godown.

The names of the arrested were given as Ramulu, Ramesh and Raghu.

An attempt was made to burgle the godown of Nicholas Piramal in 2002 and the management had dismissed a few employees suspecting their involvement in the incident, the police said.