Ongole cops crack 2 cases, recover Rs 69 L

Ongole: Prakasam district SP Malika Garg said district police successfully cracked two cases and recovered gold and cash worth more than Rs 69 lakh.

Giving details at a press conference at district police office here on Wednesday, Malika Garg said that Ongole I Town police received a complaint from Varikuntla Venkarakrishnaiah, a resident of Devudu Cheruvu in Ongole on December 31 night that some people gained entry into his house and decamped with Rs 52.7 lakh cash kept for purchasing land. The police investigated the case and found that one Battu Kranthi Kiran of Markapur committed the crime.

The SP said that the accused, a contractor, is own nephew of the complainant's wife and was waiting for the release of bills worth Rs 2.70 crores. He was under pressure from moneylenders to repay their loans.

She said that the complainant's wife went to her brother's and the accused's home in Markapur on December 26 and stayed there since then. She informed her brother about their plans to purchase land and that they pooled the required money and kept it at home for the transaction.

On coming to know of the money, Kranthi Kiran came to Ongole on December 31, went to his aunt's home after making sure his uncle had left for work and gained entry into their house breaking the backdoor with a saw.

In another case, the SP said the accused impersonated police personnel and cheated employees of a jewellery shop. Malika Garg said R D Balaji is a worker at Vishal Jewellers and Workshop in Chennai, and visits Ongole and Chimakurthy to take and deliver orders to local merchants.

On September 21, he reached Ongole in Sabari Express and delivered the orders and went to the bus station to board a bus to Chimakurthy. At that time, a man intercepted him and said that he as a policeman and he had information that he was supplying ganja to local peddlers.

He forcibly took the bag from Balaji purportedly to check it. After a while, he returned the bag and went away. Balaji checked his bag later and found that 460.840-gram gold worth Rs 22 lakh was missing. On complaint from Balaji, the Ongole I Town police investigated the case and arrested Shaik Hussain Basha of Guntakal in Anantapur district, and recovered 351 gram gold worth Rs 17 lakh from him. The SP said that there were two more accused in the case and the search was on for them.

Malika Garg appreciated the efforts of additional SP, Crime, SV Sridhar Rao, DSP U Nagaraju, I Town CI Venkateswarlu, SI UV Krishnaiah, and other constables in cracking the two cases and recovering a total booty worth Rs 69 lakh.