9-member dacoit gang arrested

Nellore: In a major break-through, police have busted a 9-member dacoit gang and recovered booty worth Rs 90.58 lakh. This includes 1,758 gm gold ornaments worth 88.28 lakh and Rs 2,30,000 in cash. Also, two motorcycles, five mobile phones were seized from the gang at Kota village of Chillakuru mandal on Saturday. The accused were identified as Balli Venkateswarlu alias Venkatesh (32) and Balli Tirupal (53) of Annamedu village of Naidupet mandal; Botchu Nagendra Babu (26) of Punnepalle village of Ozili mandal; Kalapati Subrahmanyam (40) of Kondapuram village, Vakadu mandal; Vaddi Jagadesh (20), Manimela Narendra (20), Manimela Papaiah (28) and Koneti Vamsi (23) of Chittedu village of Kota mandal; Peneti Mandeep alias Chanti (21) of Kothapalem village of Kota mandal in Tirupati district.

Addressing press conference here on Saturday, SP Dr K Tirumaleswara Reddy said that the accused usually targets gold traders, who supply gold ornaments to shops in various places in the district. P Harikoteswara Rao, a gold trader in Nellore city, along with his brother P Chandra Sekhar, was returning to home after supplying gold ornaments to shops in Gudur on motorcycle, at 10.30 pm on January 6. The three accused followed them on a bike and they hit the victim’s bike near Joyalukas gold shop located mini bypass road. When the victims fell, the accused decamped with gold ornaments and cash.

The SP detailed that among the nine-member gang, Venkateswarlu alias Venkatesh is the kingpin in the incident, who planned the robbery with his experience of working in gold shops.

According to the SP, following a complaint by the victims at Balaji Nagar police station, CI I Veera Naik along with Central Crime Station (CCS) deployed special teams to nab the culprits. Following a tip off, police arrested the accused at Kota village of Chillakuru mandal on Saturday.

SP Tirumaleswara Reddy said that during interrogation, the accused confessed to their crime of looting gold traders, who carry gold ornaments lonely, after conducting a recce.

City DSP D Srinivasa Reddy and others were present.