Hyderabad: Raidurgam police officers apprehended an eight-member gang on Tuesday, January 30, on charges of impersonating as Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department officials and kidnapping employees of a software business. Four cars, sixteen mobile phones, and Rs 35,000 in cash were confiscated by the officials.
The accused were from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Hyderabad.
According to the police, the complainant Darshan Sugunakara Shetty is the director of AJA ADS India Private Limited, a firm that employs over 40 people and handles US IT hiring and IT support.
The names of other accused are advocate Mahendra Kumar, 38, IT expert Shaikh Mohammed Abdul Quadir, 33, real estate agent Vijay Shekar, 32, ex-manager Akkera Ranjith Kumar, 47, associate advocate Balinga Rahul, 33, Dadiboina Subba Krishna, 40, student Sandeep Kumar, 31, and Raghu Raju, 33. According to the officials, two individuals – police constable Raja and sub-insepctor Sujan – are still absconding.
Mahendra and Ranjith initially hatched a conspiracy to get ransom from company director. Mahendra talked about it with SI Sujan, a well-known police official from Kurnool.
According to their plan, on January 26, the suspects went to the IT company masquerading as police officers and claimed to have received a report about irregularities in the company from US authorities. Initially, they asked for Rs 10 crore. During negotiations, the ultimate settlement was agreed upon at Rs 2.3 crore.
However, the complainant was only able to provide Rs 71.80 lakh due to the limited time. As a result, the gang members forcibly bundled the three employees in their cars, drove them to a hotel in Madhapur, and locked them in a room. They threatened to killed the trio if the remaining sum was not paid.
When the directors did not respond, the kidnappers became suspicious and left the captives in the hotel room the same evening.
Based on reliable information, the Raidurgam police arrested the accused on January 28. After taking them to the police station, they subjected them to a series of systematic interrogations, during which he confessed to have committed the crime.
