Police crack highway robbery case in 48 hrs

Bapatla: The Bapatla district police have successfully solved a major highway robbery case within 48 hours, recovering Rs 39 lakh and seizing a Swift Dzire car from four suspects.

In a press meet held in Bapatla on Tuesday, the SP Tushar Dudi explained that the incident occurred on October 19 around 1:00 am near the Korisapadu flyover on Guntur-Ongole National Highway (NH-16). The victim Tallam Swaroop Kumar from Guntur was travelling to Chennai to purchase gold when four unidentified criminals intercepted his vehicle and forcibly took Rs 39.50 lakh and his mobile phone, and briefly abducted him before releasing him at the scene.

Following the complaint by the victim, three special teams led by Chirala DSP P Jagadish Naik conducted the investigation, under the SP’s supervision. The police teams analysed the CCTV footage from tollgates and eyewitness accounts and arrested four suspects on October 21 at Medarametla Y-Junction.

The accused, all from Krishna district were identified as Dhanikonda Venkanna Swamy (31), a driver, Pagadala Mahesh (32), a carpenter, A Karthik (28), a welder, and Pooreti Siva Srinivasa Rao (26), a welder. The main accused, Venkanna Swamy, reportedly planned the robbery based on his previous experience as a load driver, knowing that traders often carry large amounts of cash on the Chennai route. The SP said that two of the accused have previous criminal records, including charges under the NDPS Act and IPC Section 498-A.