BENGALURU: Two 16-year-old boys, who had fled the government observation home in Devanahalli with five others after attacking its security personnel on January 25 night, have been detained.
Cops recovered from them two of the three motorbikes they had stolen within eight hours of their escapade.
One minor had earlier been arrested for robbing a mobile phone and another was nabbed under Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (Pocso). Police are looking for five others who had fled the home with the two boys.
According to the complaint filed by homeguard Pratap G, the seven minors attacked him around 7pm on January 25. In all, there were 17 minors in the observation centre and Pratap had come for second-shift duty from 2pm to 10pm.
“I was monitoring the seven boys who were walking in the corridors of the observation home. After some time, I directed them to get back to their respective rooms. Suddenly, two of them hit me on the head with a weighing stone, which they had taken from the storeroom. Before I could resist, others grabbed my hand and they snatched the main gate keys. First, five of them ran away and two boys, who were holding me, pushed me aside and they too escaped,” read Pratap’s statement to Devanahalli police.
Further investigation revealed the minors, after splitting into different groups, ran in different directions.
The two, who have been detained now, told cops they boarded a private bus heading to Doddaballapur. One of them had money with him and he bought the tickets. “After getting down at Doddaballapur, both had dinner at a hotel and came back to the KSRTC bus stand. After spending some time, they wandered in residential lanes and stole two bikes parked outside houses,” sources said.
Riding the bikes, the two reached Dobbespet near Tumakuru, about 50km from Doddaballapur. “By then, one motorbike developed a snag and stopped. Then, the two stole another bike and reached Bengaluru by late afternoon. Since then, they had been living with a friend near BTM Layout,” sources said.
Meanwhile, cops visited the homes of the seven minors and found that these two had started contacting their family members. “We detained them on Tuesday when they came to meet their families. Two bikes have been seized but the one which was left behind at Dobbespet, has to be recovered,” police sources said.
