DONE IN BY AESTHETICS?: The roof-top ventilator used by the dacoits to get into the house of Anantha Reddy at Chandanagar in the early hours of Friday. — Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

HYDERABAD: Dacoits struck at a house in Chandanagar in the early hours of Friday by cutting open an acrylic dome on the roof and decamped with property worth Rs.4 lakhs after stabbing the house owner.

They sprayed some chemical on Ananta Reddy, 38, when he tried to resist them even after sustaining a knife injury on the back.

Use ladder

Members of the gang, suspected to be at least five in number, brought a ladder along with them and scaled the compound wall around 5 a.m.

Later, they crawled up the water pipe and reached atop the double-storied building. The building has an open-to-sky dome made of acrylic sheet.

The gang removed the dome using hand gloves and doctor's scissors, threw a rope inside and slid down 40 feet to the first floor using it. The ground floor was kept vacant for parking vehicles.

Mr. Reddy and his wife were awake till late on Thursday night since their daughter was preparing for her fifth standard examination and went to sleep in the bedroom on the second floor. There was nobody in the bedroom on the first floor.

The dacoits ransacked the first floor. Keys left on the almirah made their job easier. After collecting Rs.2 lakhs and equally valued gold ornaments, they went to the second floor by the staircase. Mr. Reddy woke up when the dacoits tried to forcibly open the door.

As he tried to resist, one of the miscreants whipped out a knife and stabbed him on the back.

Undeterred by the attack, he tried to catch them and one of the gang members fell down.

"While I tried to fight back, they sprayed some chemical on me creating a burning sensation and itching," Mr. Reddy told reporters.

Balanagar ACP Satyanarayana Reddy said that there was every possibility of persons familiar with the building's topography committing the crime.

"Very few know about the dome on the top of the building and its removal raises this doubt," he said.

Mr. Ananta Reddy is undergoing treatment.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail