Prakasam police arrested three offenders, including two “fake policemen”, for allegedly cheating a granite baron of ₹2 lakh in cash and recovered the amount from them at Vemavaram cross roads, near Ballikurava, in Prakasam district late on Friday.
Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Malika Garg said a motorcycle and two cars used by the offenders were also seized.
Sharing further details of the case with mediapersons, she said the 32-year-old granite baron, Lalith Devasi, who used to transport polished granite slabs to various places within the country and abroad, was taken aback when a truck loaded with granite meant for shipping was waylaid by two persons, Ravi and Harshavardhan, posing themselves policemen at Konidena village on the intervening night of September 6 and 7.
The duo reportedly told the driver that the records relating to the consignment were not in order and beat up the driver as he refused to move the truck to the police station.
On contacted by the truck driver, the granite baron began negotiations with the duo through one Tirupathaiah, who had been working as a ‘granite marker’ in Martur and Ballikurava mandals for long for the release of the vehicle, she said.
Tirupathaiah helped the baron strike a deal with the duo following which the baron gave ₹2 lakh in cash to the duo for release of the vehicle. Tirupathaiah advised the granite baron not to give a complaint to the police.
The granite baron, after a lot of dilly-dallying, complained to the Ballikurava police after ascertaining those who waylaid the truck were not police personnel. Probe conducted by the police revealed that Tirupathaiah was the main accused in the case and had hatched a plot with the duo, both his accomplices, to cheat the granite baron, she said.
The SP rewarded the police personnel from Ballikurava for efficiently cracking the case.
