modus operandi Electronics City Karnataka Bank Theseems to be very simple – identify targets by hovering around banks and gold loan shops; follow the target and at an appropriate spot throw some sticky substance that leads to instant itching; suggest to the victim that washing with water might relieve the itch; while the victim is busy washing the affected part of the body, steal the booty and slip away from the spot.That’s itch.In the second incident in recent days, a family from Kengeri lost gold jewellery after a bunch of attention diverters told them that there was something on the woman’s back. In the earlier incident in, a man lost Rs 1.5 lakh when his son was sprayed with a substance that caused a massive itch.The latest incident took place on Wednesday. Venkatesh RC, 36, a resident of Kengeri Satellite Town had gone toto take back gold jewellery that he had pledged for a loan. Around 10.15 am, he paid the bank Rs 85,000 and took back the jewellery and secured it in his Honda Dio’s glove compartment.As they passed Shastri Café on Kommaghatta Main Road, somebody informed them that something had fallen on the wife’s back. Before Venkatesh could react, his wife started screaming.“I stopped near a juice centre and tried to clean my wife’s back. My hands started itching as soon I touched the substance. When we returned to the scooter, I saw that the glove compartment was open and the bag containing gold jewellery was missing,” Venkatesh told Bangalore Mirror.“The juice shop owner had a CCTV camera and we saw somebody with our bag on his bike’s fuel tank. But the footage did not show them stealing the bag,” he added.Venkatesh informed the police and the bank. The CCTV footage at the bank showed a person following them as soon as they exited the bank.DCP (West) Ravi D Channanavar said that different gangs of attention diverters from Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Bhadravati, Chitradurga and Kolar were active in the city. “We are yet to trace the gang with this MO. We have arrested more than five gangs in the recent months including the recent one caught by Kalasipalya traffic police. Upparpet and Vijaynagar police too have busted different gangs.”It’s not known yet what the chemical substance is. It leads to immediate inflammation for which the victims stop and wash the skin. This gives the gang members, usually seven to eight in number, enough time to escape.

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