The Mangaluru City Police have arrested a key accused linked to the notorious Dandupalya gang, who had been absconding for nearly 29 years in connection with a 1997 double murder and robbery case, police said on Thursday.
The arrested accused has been identified as Chikka Hanuma alias Chikka Hanumanthappa, (55), a native of Dandupalya village in Hoskote taluk of Bengaluru Rural district, they said.
He was apprehended by a special team of the Urwa police from Madanapalle in Annamayya district of Andhra Pradesh, where he had been residing under an assumed identity, police said.
According to police, on the night of October 11, 1997, members of the Dandupalya gang allegedly broke into a house near Marigudi Cross in Urwa and murdered two occupants -- Louis D'Mello (80) and Ranjith Vegas (19) -- before fleeing with gold ornaments.
Police said a chargesheet had earlier been filed against multiple accused, and five of them, including gang leader Doddahanuma, were convicted by a special sessions court in Bengaluru in 2010.
Chikka Hanuma, listed as Accused No.6, had evaded arrest by changing his name and relocating outside Karnataka, they said.
A Long Pending Case (LPC) warrant had been issued against him by the JMFC II Court, Mangaluru, in 2010.
Police said the accused is also suspected to be involved in nearly 13 murder and robbery cases in Karnataka, and further verification is underway.
He was produced before a court following his arrest and has been remanded to judicial custody, police added.
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