Hyderabad: The men who created panic among the public by going on a chain snatching spree wielding knives, earlier last month, were arrested on Wednesday, in a joint operation by the Commissioner’s Task Force and the Special Operations Team of Rachakonda and Bhavaninagar police.
Officials recovered lost gold ornaments, one KTM bike, one Bajaj Pulsar bike and a knife from the gang. The men were taking shelter at lodges and planned to commit offences again once the dust settled.
The men, who committed 11 chain-snatching thefts within a span of 15 hours in Rachakonda, were identified as Monu Valmiki alias Rahul alias Guduva, 30, resident of Noida and Choka, 29, resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, and the mastermind Chintamalla Praneeth Chowdhary alias Manya, 25, an unemployed youth from Vanasthalipuram. Praneeth met the duo while he was jailed in Noida for committing property offences, and the three hatched a plan to snatch chains, said Anjani Kumar, police commissioner of Hyderabad.
Monu Valmiki and Choka were notorious interstate property offenders involved in more than 40 cases of robbery and chain snatching in Noida and surrounding places of U.P. A history sheet is being maintained against Valmiki in PS Sector-49 of Noida.
“Praneeth, is a habitual offender who discontinued his engineering to pursue B.B.M. at U.K., from where he was deported to Delhi as he had violated local immigration laws. While in Delhi, he came in contact with criminals and after returning to Hyderabad, was involved in three cases at Saroornagar and Uppal in 2014 and 2015. After being released on bail, he again shifted to Noida, committed offences and was jailed,” said the official, adding that as Praneeth was a local of Vanasthalipuram, they planned to target and commit offences there.
According to their plan, they were at Hyderabad a few days prior to the start of the offences and took shelter in various lodges. They rented a KTM bike from one Sofiyan and they initially roamed in Vanasthalipuram, Hayathnagar, Meerpet, L.B. Nagar and surrounding areas till Monu and Choka got familiar with the topography of the area.
On December 26 and 27, Choka and Monu Valmiki committed 11 chain snatchings from women of all age groups, in L.B. Nagar, Vanasthalipuram, Meerpet, Hayathnagar and Chaitanyapuri.
“Praneeth did not participate in the offences as he feared of being identified in CCTV and only organised the workings,” added the Police Commissioner.
On Wednesday, Mona and Choka were apprehended near Anmol Hotel at Edibazar. They were found possessing a knife, which they kept for threatening the public if chased.
