One would have heard of ‘Irani chai’, the spicy tea that is believed to have originated from Iran.
However, for the police, ‘Irani’ has a different connotation. Gangs with ‘Irani’ as prefix have gained notoriety.
Most of the gangs have their roots in districts such as Anantapur, Chittoor, and Kurnool.
According to Additional DCP (Crime) S. Varada Raju, the gangs are called by that name as it is believed that their ancestors had migrated from Persia during the time of the Golconda kings in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The appearance of the members of the gang is deceptive. They are well dressed, good looking, and have pleasant personalities. They pose themselves as police officers and relieve people of their jewellery. “People should be wary of such persons,” says Mr. Varada Raju.
Their modus operandi is unique.
Two or three persons in safari suit, which is the dress code for policemen in mufti, stand at a lonely spot in a street.
They usually target elderly women.
Once the target is identified, one person, posing as a constable, approaches the woman and tells her: “Amma ayyagaru pilustunnaru,” which means, “Madam, inspector sir is calling you.”
As she approaches the senior man, he tells her that an old woman has been murdered the previous night and then advises the woman to remove all the jewellery and wrap them up in a paper or a packet.
To win the confidence of the woman, a drama is enacted. A member of the gang, either a man or a woman, passes by at that moment. The ‘inspector’ calls him or her and relates the same story. After listening to him, the gangster removes the jewellery he or she has and hands them over to the ‘inspector’. He then wraps them in a brown cover and hands it over to the gangster.
This is where the trick is played.
Once the gullible woman falls into the trap and hands over her jewellery, the so-called inspector wraps them in a cover and with a sleight of hand changes it. In is only on reaching home the victim realises that she has been conned.
According to Mr. Varada Raju, there are a number of gangs such as ‘Nazaru gang’, ‘Aksar Ali gang’, and ‘Yasin Ali gang’, and they operate across the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In Visakhapatnam, there were six cases involving such gangs in 2013, four in 2014, and one so far in 2015.
“They can strike at any time,” he says, and urges people to be alert.
