Hyderabad: Four ex-servicemen who were diverting groceries from the Army canteen and their three associates were arrested by Rachakonda police on Tuesday.
The suspects purchased groceries from the Army canteen and sold it to traders for commission. Police seized products worth around Rs. 5 lakh and 15 Army canteen smart cards from them.
The suspects are A. Kantha Rao, a retired gun fitter, E. Laxmaiah, a retired gunner, Bagayya Varuganti, a retired washerman and M. Srinivasulu an ex-serviceman and S. Srinivas, the owner of the provision shop, G. Veera Bhaskar Reddy and Devidass an auto trolley driver.
Malkajgiri DCP K. Ramesh Naidu said, Srinivas, who was running a provision store in Alwal came into contact with the ex-servicemen and hatched a plan to divert groceries from the Army canteen.
He offered them 22 per cent commission on each product. Police said the gang used to procure groceries and electronic items from the canteen and sell it to Srinivas, who sold it to traders in Begum Bazaar, Secund-erabad and ECIL. “They used their own cards as well as the cards of serving personnel. We will report athis to the Army,” the DCP said.
Police found the gang had been in this business for around two years. Initially, Srinivas started with one person and sold the goods at his shop in Alwal, but later established contacts with other Armymen, both retired and serving, and expanded the business.
He took on rent a double bedroom flat in Neredmet and converted it into a godown to store the groceries. He used to send them to his clients in an auto trolley. Police raided the flat and seized 129 cartons of groceries worth around Rs. 5 lakh.
The cops also recovered six cards belonging to servicemen. The cards belonged to soldier Vichu M.V. (grocery card), havildar B.D. Kale (liquor card), Naib Subedar Chotu Ram (liquor card), havildar S.K. Sannigrahi (grocery card), lance naik Shaik (grocery card) and Subedar Jagannath (Liquor card). The arrested men were remanded to custody.
