With the arrest of four persons, Banjara Hills police cracked a theft case and recovered 1.25 kg of gold ornaments of 1.43 kg of stolen booty, worth ₹1 crore.
The accused are Govti. Niranjan (40), Pavanam Balapeer (32), G. Ranjit Kumar (22) and M.Venkataiah (55), all migrated from Nagarkurnool district to Hyderabad in search of livelihood. Another accused Kumar Rajaram is still at large.
Giving details of the case, Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said that on October 9, complainant Ajay Kumar Agarwal of VS GOLD, Basheerbagh, sent their sales executive Pradeep Kumar Bodake to Krishna Jewellers Pearls and Gems, Jubilee Hills to collect their stock. While Pradeep was returning on a two-wheeler, he met with an accident at Banjara Hills and lost the gold ornament bag. “Due to heavy rainfall and storm, the bag with his cellphone was not traceable,” he said.
On a complaint lodged by Ajay Kumar, a case was registered and during the course of investigation, police found that four days after the incident, on October 12, the missing mobile phone was turned on at Jagathgirigutta and within seconds it was switched off.
Based on the last location, the teams went to Jagadgirigutta and verified all the mobile shops. “After painstaking efforts they traced the stolen mobile and with the help of surveillance cameras the accused were apprehended,” Mr. Kumar said.
After the accident, when Pradeep started screaming that a bag containing gold ornaments was lost, Govti Niranjan, who heard him, started searching for the bag and found it near his hut. “But he did not hand over the bag to Pradeep or police to tide over his financial crises as well as to complete construction of his house in his native village,” the officer said.
He took the help of his friends to dispose of the booty, police said.
