North Zone DCP Rashmi Perumal along with officials from Market police at a press conference in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
Eighteen individuals were arrested by the Market police in connection with a daylight dacoity in which a man was robbed of over ₹43 lakh and 59 grams of gold.
The accused lured the victim into a trap by posing as gold trader offering a discounted rate and later executed a staged police raid to rob him.
The case was booked following a complaint filed by Hariram, a resident of Bowenpally.
Hariram alleged that a known acquaintance, Radheshyam, had approached him with an offer to sell one kilogram of gold at a 5% discount, provided the transaction was done in cash.
After being introduced to a group of unfamiliar individuals and verifying the cash, Hariram’s office was stormed by four people impersonating officers from the Rachakonda Special Operations Team (SOT). One of them, identifying himself as Keshavulu, showed an ID card before the group assaulted the complainant, seized the cash and mobile phones of all present, and fled using a car and two bikes.
The police said that Chandra Shekar Verma and his brother Nagaraju Kumar Verma from Krishna district were the masterminds of the scheme.
The gang planned the heist during a meeting at a city hotel on June 18. They roped in several others, including a serving constable from Nagarkurnool, Meesala Keshavulu, to impersonate law enforcement official during the robbery.
The twist in the story came when while fleeing with the loot, the robbers were intercepted in Trimulgherry by a separate gang identifying themselves as “vehicle recovery team”. This group, which recognised one of the bikes as belonging to a loan defaulter, seized the stolen cash from the initial robbers under threat of false police action, effectively robbing the robbers.
This unexpected turn of events caused tension between the two groups, culminating in further violence. Bhanu was beaten and detained by another associate, Mantri Venkatesh, and his group at Ghatkesar after the original gang learned of the money being taken.
The police recovered ₹43.2 lakh in cash, nearly 59 grams of gold jewellery worth around ₹6 lakh, two cars, four two-wheelers, and 23 mobile phones. The investigation, which included analysis of over 100 CCTV camera feeds and multiple witness accounts, has revealed the involvement of two separate criminal groups.
Several accused remain absconding, including key players identified as Suresh, Teja, Srikanth, Sai Baba and others. Further investigation is underway.
Published – June 25, 2025 12:08 am IST
