Sri Sathya Sai District Police Bust Interstate Highway Dacoit Gang
Seize ₹1.26 crore in cash, vehicles, mobile phone and arms: Reports
ANANTAPUR: Sri Sathya Sai district police have cracked two sensational highway dacoity cases on National Highway 44, thereby busting an organised interstate gang involved in kidnapping, robbery, and looting cash.
The first dacoity occurred during the early hours of December 3, 2025, under KIA police station limits. Unidentified assailants intercepted a moving vehicle, smashed its windows, abducted two persons along with the vehicle, and robbed ₹2.8 crore. The assailants later abandoned the victims at different locations.
The second case had been reported on February 21, 2026, near Mamillapalli village under Kanaganapalli police station limits. Around eight masked persons intercepted a vehicle carrying ₹3 crore. They overpowered the occupants, abducted them, and decamped with the entire cash.
Satya Sai district police spoke to media after investigating and resolving these two cases. According to police, the gang used vehicles fitted with fake registration plates to intercept targets on highways. They broke vehicle windows, seized mobile phones to prevent distress calls, abducted victims and later abandoned them in isolated areas. While passing through toll gates along with the loot, gang members made payments in cash to avoid FASTag tracking.
Police analysed CCTV footage across a 200-km stretch from Kurnool to Bengaluru and Salem. Technical analysis of call data records, IPDR and IMEI details revealed that the accused used fake SIM cards procured from Kerala and communicated via VoIP services.
Investigations showed that the gang stayed in lodges at Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu for advance planning and reconnaissance. The gang comprises 21 members operating across Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Police said the mastermind behind the coordinated operations is from Nepal.
Police have so far arrested 10 of the 21 accused, including the key accused Cyril Mathew. Efforts are on to trace the remaining 11. The arrests have been made near the Aghora Ashram on the Bengaluru-Gorantla highway.
Investigators have seized ₹1.26 crore in cash, vehicles including three SUVs, 13 mobile phones, fake number plates, knives, and pepper spray bottles from the accused.
Ten special teams had been formed under the supervision of the district SP to probe and take the dacoits into custody.
