Date:21/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072124930300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Alert policeman prevents looting of Lupin's warehouse

Staff Reporter

A security guard of the godown, who was gagged by the assailants, died of asphyxiation

The assistant sub-inspector, during his rounds, noticed a lorry in front of the warehouse at 3 a.m.
As he approached the lorry, the culprits sped in the vehicle

The policeman noticed the security lying on the steps

BANGALORE: Armed men murdered the security guard of a pharmaceutical company's warehouse on Mysore Road in the early hours of Thursday and attempted to loot medicines from the godown.

The police said the incident occurred at Lupin India's warehouse at Timber Yard Layout in Byatarayanapura police station limits.

Around 3 a.m. assistant sub-inspector of police Revaiah, who was on his rounds on a Cheetah patrol motorcycle, noticed a lorry stationed in front of the warehouse.

On seeing the policemen, some persons sped in the lorry. Suspicious, Mr. Revaiah entered the warehouse compound and he did not find the security guard, who normally used to sit on the steps in front of the godown.

As the sub-inspector was climbing up the steps to the first floor, he found security guard Veerabhadrachari (62) lying on the steps. His hands and legs were tied and he was gagged, the police said.

Mr. Revaiah rushed Veerabhadrachari to Victoria Hospital and the doctors there declared him brought dead, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) K.V. Sharathchandra said. The doctors said Veerabhadracahari had died of asphyxiation, he said.

The police, who inspected the godown, found that the intruders had broken one of the two locks of the rolling shutters. "They had definitely come there to loot medicines," Mr. Sharathchandra said.

Mr. Veerabhadrachari, a resident of Shankarapuram, was working as a security guard at the godown for the past nine years, he said. The Byatarayanapura police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the killers.