Weddings in Karnataka have their own predictable rhythm. Someone sings, someone cries, someone fights about rasam, and somewhere in the middle a little kid steals the spotlight with a dance routine.
At
Apoorva Resort in Davanagere on November 14, the applause for one such adorable child set off a chain of events that the police are still laughing about, shaking their heads over, and proudly closing the case on.
A woman named Padmavathi had brought gold jewellery worth around Rs 51 lakh for the wedding. She placed the pink bag on the floor to free her hands and clap for the dancing child. In the two seconds it took for palms to meet, the bag vanished. Clean. Smooth. Surgical.
The theft was so quick that even seasoned cops later admitted it felt like watching someone remove a tablecloth without disturbing the dishes.
Enter The Band Baaja Gang
Every state has its celebrity thieves. Karnataka has hosted the Chaddi Gang, Hathoda Gang, Lungi Gang. Now, say hello to the Band Baaja Gang, a group that travels across states, attends ceremonies without being invited, and steals valuables while pretending to enjoy the show.
Their speciality is simple. Weddings are chaotic, emotional, loud, and crowded. People let their guard down for a moment, and the gang uses that moment like an entry ticket. One clap, one shout, one relative fainting near the buffet counter, and the loot disappears.
In this case, the gang targeted the Davanagere wedding with perfect timing and lifted Padmavathi’s bag as if performing a magic trick.
The Chase Begins
The theft was caught in the video recording of the child dancing. Somewhere between the tiny twirls and the background music, the camera captured two men hovering near the bag. Investigators paused, rewound, repeated, and soon found their suspects.
Davanagere Rural Police registered the case and began digging through CCTV footage from the venue, nearby roads, and highways. The trail pointed far away from Karnataka. The suspects belonged to Gul Kheda village in Narsinghpur Taluk of Madhya Pradesh, a place the police would later describe as having an entire village involved in theft as an occupation.
It sounded unbelievable, almost cinematic. Fittingly, the police decided to go a little cinematic themselves.
A Fifteen Day Operation Straight Out Of Theeran
The investigation team travelled to Madhya Pradesh and remained in disguise for nearly fifteen days. They blended into the local routine, quietly gathering leads, observing movements, and tracking chatter. The style felt straight out of the Tamil film Theeran, except this time it was real life and the stakes were Rs 51 lakh worth of stolen jewellery.
Finally, the team cornered and arrested the two suspects: Ran Verma and Vineet. They were members of the Band Baaja Gang and had fled home thinking no one would chase them across states. They were wrong.
The police not only recovered the bag but also realised the scale of the network. The gang was part of a larger ecosystem of travelling thieves known to jump from wedding to wedding, blending into crowds with the confidence of distant relatives no one recognises.
A Heist Closed, A Warning Remains
SP Uma Prashanth praised the Davanagere Rural Police for their persistence, especially the undercover operation that required patience, disguise, and nerves of steel. For the family at the wedding, the recovery of the jewellery felt nothing short of a miracle.
For everyone else, this case is a reminder that not all guests at weddings come for food. Some come for the bags under chairs, the purses left near stages, and the jewellery women remove for one second to clap for a cute kid.
In the end, the Band Baaja Gang’s performance was cut short. And this time, it was the police who got the applause.
