On Friday, Murthy’s neighbours got suspicious when they saw two unknown persons inside the house. When they entered the compound to check, the two miscreants tried to escape by scaling the compound wall. But the local residents caught the duo, tied them to a post and then soundly thrashed before informing the police. The locals also recovered 20 sovereigns of gold jewellery and silver articles.

A patrolling police party which came that way tried to take the culprits, identified by then as Rajiv (35) and Ganesan (45), both from Bengaluru, to the local police station, but the locals objected. When the police continued to insist, they blocked the Natrampalli road.

The police patrol then informed their superiors after which Natrampalli police rushed to the spot and cajoled the agitators into handing over the culprits to them, promising to take expeditious action.

The villagers then relented, lifted the blockade and handed over the culprits, based on which a case was registered and investigation started.