Police bust dacoits’ gang in Chittoor, recover ₹3.2 crore worth gold
Chittoor district police caught four members of a highway dacoits’ gang within 48 hours of the incident and recovered 3.5 kg of gold biscuits worth ₹3.2 crore from them
TIRUPATI: Chittoor district police caught four members of a highway dacoits’ gang within 48 hours of the incident and recovered 3.5 kg of gold biscuits worth ₹3.2 crore from them.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, superintendent of police V.N. Manikanta Chandolu said Chetan Kumar, a confidante of a jewellery trader, had been travelling from V. Kota to Pernambut during the night of April 2 when his car had been intercepted near the Nayakaneri Ghat in Chittoor district by armed assailants, who looted the gold consignment at gunpoint.
The following day, Deepak Kumar, the jewellery trader, lodged a complaint at the V. Kota police station. Soon after receiving the complaint, the SP formed four special teams under the supervision of Palamaner DSP D. Prabhakar. The teams included V. Kota inspector Somasekhar Reddy, Gangavaram Rural inspector Murali Mohan, Baireddypalle sub-inspector Parasharamudu, special branch inspector Bhaskar and crime inspector Uma Maheshwara Rao.
The investigating teams conducted extensive search operations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, using technical surveillance and intelligence inputs.
On April 5, one of the teams intercepted an Innova vehicle near a substation in Raghavapalli on the V. Kota–Palamaner national highway. The team recovered 3.5 kg of gold biscuits and arrested the four occupants of the car, who have been identified as D. Jayapal (67), a serving Congress councillor from KGF town, M. Mukram (42), K.R. Babu (61), and Shanmugam (59), all residents of KGF town.
Their interrogation revealed that Jayapal masterminded the robbery based on insider information from Mukram, a former driver of a Chennai-based gold trader. Mukram had alerted the gang about Deepak Kumar’s movements, enabling the group to plan and execute the heist.
The gang consists of at least 13 members. Efforts are underway to apprehend the remaining nine accused.
SP Manikanta presented appreciation certificates to the officers involved in the investigation.