Houses of 155 accused raided

BANGALORE: The north-division police raided the houses of 155 accused involved in chain snatching, dacoity, extortion and other crimes on Saturday. During the raid, 50 persons were arrested as a preventive step and were released after taking a declaration. The raids were conducted to check the activities of the offenders and to know more about their lifestyle. “It is just to know if they are still involved in criminal activities. Most of them were warned to stay away from crime. All the 155 accused were taken to their area police stations and were left after a warning,” the police said.However, 50 accused were arrested and an undertaking was taken from them that they were not into criminal activities. “Earlier, we had made surprise visits to the houses of history-sheeters. But this time, we chose to raid houses of old chain snatchers, robbers and other accused. This would help in controlling crime incidents in the division,” the police added.The raids were conducted from 5 am to 9 am. Fakruddin alias Chotu, 33, and Syed Ayub, 38,  in Vidyaranyapura police station limits, Venkatesh, were some of the arrested accused, who were later released.