Rs 21 Lakh Coffee Theft Uncovered in Puttur: Five Individuals Apprehended, Eighty Bags Retrieved
Puttur: Authorities in Puttur have apprehended five individuals in connection with a significant coffee theft valued at Rs 21 lakh. The Puttur Town Police have successfully recovered a substantial portion of the stolen goods, specifically eighty bags of coffee. Those taken into custody include Ashlesha Bhat, identified as the primary suspect, and his alleged accomplices: Narayan Shettigar, Mithun Kumar, Vijay Shetty, and Mohammad Ashraf.
The investigation was initiated following a formal complaint lodged by Trutesh, a 29-year-old resident of Kabaka and a lorry owner-driver. According to the complaint, filed on December 3rd, Trutesh had been contracted to transport 320 coffee bags, each weighing 60 kilograms, from a coffee curing facility in Piriyapatna to Mangaluru. Upon arriving in Puttur during the night, Trutesh parked the lorry in Kabaka Nehru Nagar, secured it with a lock, and returned to his residence.
The subsequent morning of December 4th, upon arrival at Mangaluru Port, company personnel conducting a routine quality control inspection discovered that the rear seal lock of the lorry had been compromised. A thorough examination revealed that eighty coffee bags, with an estimated total value of Rs 21,44,000, were missing. The incident was officially reported, and a case was registered at the Puttur Town Police Station under Crime No. 120/2025, Section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Law enforcement’s investigation subsequently implicated Ashlesha Bhat and his associates in the theft. All five individuals have been arrested, and authorities have seized two auto-rickshaws, one goods tempo, and the eighty stolen coffee bags, all of which are believed to have been instrumental in the execution of the crime. The investigation remains ongoing.
