Gambling Debt: Suspended SI Arrested for Mortgaging Seized Gold, 'Losing' Service Pistol

Hyderabad: Suspended Amberpet sub-inspector B. Bhanu Prakash Reddy was arrested after departmental and Special Branch (SB) inquiries found that he had allegedly mortgaged gold jewellery seized from a crime scene and had allegedly disposed of his 9 mm service pistol to fund his gambling habit.

Prakash Reddy was accused of mortgaging five tola gold jewellery worth about Rs.5 lakh that was seized in a theft case. He was accused of selling or misplacing his service pistol, which is yet to be recovered.

Prakash Reddy, a 2020 batch SI, was serving as law and order in-charge of Sector-1 at Amberpet police station. He had earlier worked as a detective sub-inspector at the same police station in June 2025 when the five-tola gold jewellery was seized. He did not deposit the jewellery as per law and retained it with himself.

The case was later compromised in a Lok Adalat, a police officer said. The matter came to light on November 14 when Bhanu was directed by his seniors to deposit his service pistol, as he was to report to the Pollution Control Board after securing a post as assistant engineer in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.

When he failed to deposit the weapon, the issue eventually reached police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar who ordered the inquiry. Police were verifying reports that he could have sold the weapon to factionists in Andhra Pradesh. Special teams from the city police have been deployed to trace the missing weapon. Investigators visited a lodge in Vijayawada thrice, where Prakash Reddy claimed to have misplaced the pistol. Lodge management informed police that Bhanu was seen carrying a weapon in his room. Backdated CCTV footage from the lodge is also being examined.

WhatsApp Stock Tip Scam: Hyderabad Couple Loses ₹2.5 Cr in 12 Days

Hyderabad: Cyberscammers duped a former IPS officer's wife of ₹2.58 crore in an online investment fraud after luring through a WhatsApp message offering stock market trading tips. The victim lodged a complaint with cybercrime the cybercrime police.

She stated that she added her husband to the group. One of the scammer posing as investment advisers, claimed that investors could earn up to 500 per cent profits through stock market trading.

The fraudsters allegedly convinced the victims that the trading platform was SEBI-certified and shared forged certificates to gain their confidence.

Believing the claims and advertisements circulated in the group, the couple invested ₹2.58 crore in 19 transactions between December 24 and January 5.

The accused reportedly pressured the victims to keep investing repeatedly, warning that they would lose the money already invested if they stopped further payments. When the promised returns failed to materialise, the victims realised they had been duped.

Sold in 2009, ‘Gifted’ in 2025: Ex-Owner Arrested for Jubilee Hills Land Grab Bid

Hyderabad: Jubilee Hills police arrested three persons in connection with two cases registered over alleged forgery, criminal trespass and assault linked to a property at Road No. 25, Jubilee Hills. The cases (666/2025 and C 686/2025) were registered on the complaint of Ashish Kumar Ahuja.

Police arrested Polavarapu Sridevi, P. Nayanth and Paleti Sreenadh Reddy while efforts were on to trace three of their associates.

Jubilee Hills ACP P. Venkatagiri said the complainant’s father had purchased the property through a registered sale deed dated July 20, 2009. The prime accused, despite having sold the property in 2009 and having no legal rights, allegedly executed a fraudulent gift deed on October 10, 2025, in favour of another person by using fabricated documents.

On November 9, 2025, when the complainant and his associate visited the property after learning about a fresh act of trespass, they were allegedly confined, threatened and assaulted with iron rods and knives. The accused also allegedly robbed them of their personal belongings.

Police verified CCTV footage, technical evidence and land records obtained from the sub-registrar offices at Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills Cooperative Housing Society, the ACP said.

Ugandan National Deported from Hyderabad for Visa Overstay and Drug Links

Hyderabad: The city police’s Narcotics Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) arrested a Ugandan national, Juliana Victor Nabitaka, in Tolichowki for overstaying her visa in India and alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities. She was arrested after she failed to produce valid visa documents. With the assistance of the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), Hyderabad, she was subsequently blacklisted and deported to Uganda from the Shamshabad airport.

NCB Busts Racket Smuggling Psychotropic Drugs from Nizamabad to USA

Hyderabad: Acting on specific intelligence, he Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Hyderabad zone, intercepted a parcel at a private courier firm and seized psychotropic drugs being illegally exported to the United States. The parcel was found to contain 180 tablets of Lobazam-10 (Clobazam), weighing 25.2 grams.

Investigations revealed that the sender was a resident of Nizamabad district and the managing partner of a prominent medical store in the district.

Based on this information, NCB officials, in coordination with the Drugs Control Administration (DCA), conducted a joint raid at the medical store in Nizamabad and seized 598 tablets of various psychotropic medicines, Ashish Chakravarti, NCB superintendent, said in a press release.

Shop managing partner Anil Kumar failed to produce mandatory prescription registers, sales records and stock details. Further investigation resulted in the arrest of courier company employee Chandra Shekhar who allegedly fabricated documents, including fake bills and forged medical prescriptions, to facilitate the illegal trafficking and export of psychotropic medicines to the USA.