In a scene straight out of a fast and furious flick, a gang of robbers waylaid a truck loaded with cigarettes worth ₹4 crore just outside the city, and made away with goods, after assaulting the driver, on Sunday.
According to a police complaint made by Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, the truck’s driver, nearly 30 people chased his truck in two SUVs as he neared Pedda Amberpet just within the Outer Ring Road limits. The truck was bound for Tirupathi from the city. About half a dozen men boarded the truck and threatened to kill Yadav if he did not comply, the police said. The robbers then drove the truck towards Choutuppal.
As the truck reached Khairatapur, about 10 km away from Choutuppal, the robbers parked the vehicle at a secluded spot and tied up the driver with a towel. Then they unloaded the goods from the truck onto another truck which had trailed them for the purpose.
“The truck had 647 cigarette cartons worth ₹4 crore. The robbers made way with all of it and fled. They left the lorry and the driver at the spot,” said Vanasthalipuram ACP V. Ravinder Reddy. With assistance from some locals, Yadav , who claimed he was stripped and beaten by robbers, approached the police.
The police were also told by the driver that a second person, a route guide, was with him in the truck till it reached Uppal from the city. The police also made inquiries from the other man.
“We are procuring CCTV footage from cameras en route. It is also known that the vehicle is GPS equipped and the consignment was being sent by ITC Ltd,” Mr. Reddy said, maintaining that none of the suspects was identified.
