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After 29-Year Hunt, Mangaluru Police Arrest Alleged Dandupalya Gang Associate in 1997 Double Murder

Police are verifying his suspected links to roughly a dozen other murder or robbery cases across Karnataka.

Overview

  • Urwa police arrested Chikka Hanuma, 55, in Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh, on January 22 after tracing him to an assumed identity.
  • He was produced before a court and has been remanded to judicial custody.
  • The case stems from an October 11, 1997 break-in at Anwar Mahal near Urwa Marigudi Cross in which Lewis D’Mello, 80, and Ranjith Vegas, 19, were killed and gold was stolen.
  • A chargesheet named multiple accused; five were convicted by a Bengaluru special court in 2010 before the high court set aside those convictions and acquitted them.
  • The JMFC II Court in Mangaluru issued a Long Pending Case warrant against Hanuma in 2010, and police say he evaded capture for years by using aliases.