Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, Hyderabad Police arrested four gang members involved in impersonating police officers and carrying out organised crimes like kidnappings, extortion and wrongful confinement. Two others remain on large.
The joint operation was carried out by Jagadgirigutta Police and Kukatpally Central Crime Station (CCS).
The case came to light following a complaint lodged by 42-year-old Kavuri Purnachandra Rao from Kukatpally.
On May 18, Rao was travelling to Prashanth Nagar when he was intercepted near Shobhodaya Colony by the group posing as police officers. One of the accused informed him that he had a pending criminal case in Haryana and they needed him for questioning. The gang had obtained information about Rao through an acquaintance, Sanjay, a Sub-Inspector in the Haryana Police.
Believing the claims, the victim was taken in the accused’s vehicle and wrongfully confined.
The gang took him to Suryapet, where they allegedly forced him to withdraw Rs 1 lakh from an ATM. During the return to Hyderabad, they compelled him to transfer additional funds through PhonePe and online banking transactions.
Police said a total of Rs 5.26 lakh was extorted from Rao.
Before abandoning him within the Kukatpally police limits, the gang members removed the SIM cards from his mobile phone and handed him a basic feature phone.
During the investigation, police found that the gang specifically targeted businessmen and financially well-off individuals by impersonating law enforcement personnel using fake police identity cards, uniforms, rank badges, and other official-looking materials.
The arrested accused have been identified as Tangellapalli Nagendra Varma of Mahabubabad district, Yashwanth Singh alias Rahul and Satyabhan Singh alias Thakur from Uttar Pradesh and Nagaraju Raghu Varma alias Karthikeya alias Colonel Karthikeya Singh from Andhra Pradesh.
Two other accused, Pradeep Kumar Mishra and Sunil Kumar alias Fauji, remain absconding.
Prime accused, Nagaraju Raghu Varma, has 12 cases registered against him and has been detained twice under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act. Others are also involved in multiple criminal cases across Telangana and other states.
Police seized mobile phones, an air pistol, a country-made 7.65 mm firearm, a laptop, police uniforms, fake police identity cards, rank badges, police logos, handcuffs, counterfeit vehicle number plates, a Tiago car, a motorcycle, forged court documents, magistrate stamps, government department letterheads, and other incriminating materials.
The accused were produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody. Police said further investigation is underway to trace the absconding accused and uncover the full extent of the gang’s activities.
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