Police on Saturday nabbed four persons for allegedly trying to sell an antique conch for Rs.10 crore. The conch weighing 8.180 kgs was covered with silver metal and decorated with colourful stones, the police said.
The arrested persons have been identified as V. Praveen Reddy, 36, of Singareni Colony in Dilsukhnagar, T. Gurunadha Reddy, 28, of Hydernagar, Kukatpally, D. Ramu, 35, of Bandimet, and Vikram Singh, 42, of Somajiguda.
The conch of Lord Dakshinamurthy, a Skoda car and five mobile phones were seized from them, said City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma at a press conference here on Saturday.
Praveen and Ramu were trying to find prospective customers to sell antique conch for Rs.10 crore stating that it has divine powers.
They approached their friends Gurunadha Reddy and Vikram Singh requesting them to help in finding buyers. They had also promised to pay Rs.25 lakh each for bringing buyers, the Commissioner said.
Acting on a tip-off, the police sent a decoy team and negotiated with them. After agreeing to pay Rs.8 crore, the team asked the gang to hand over the conch at Somajiguda.
“When the four accused came to Somajiguda in a car, we took them into custody,” the Commissioner said.
Inquiries revealed that one Sandeep Reddy of Srinagar Colony gave it to Praveen for selling it to prospective customers.
“We are trying to nab Sandeep,” he added.
