Interstate gang of cell phone thieves held in Warangal

Warangal: The police busted a gang of thieves by arresting five persons including a minor here on Tuesday. The police seized 87 mobile phones worth around Rs 30 lakh from it. The police also seized two cars and two bikes from the accused.

Those arrested include Akula Vadivelu (39), Pusala Sairam (25), Pusala Subbarayudu (32) of Anantapur district and Kavadi Pochaiah (30) and a minor boy from Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to the media here, Commissioner of Police V Ravinder said that Pochaiah alias Chandu is the kingpin of the gang. Pochaiah, who made a living by running an auto-rickshaw in Kurnool district, had started to commit thefts to lead a luxury life.

In his bid to make fast buck, Pochaiah formed a gang in 2017. So far, the gang was involved in several theft and pick-pocketing cases across both the Telugu-speaking States – Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Even though the accused had been arrested and served prison life in the past, they were not willing to change. The gang is used to target railway stations, bus stops, and other crowded places, the CP said. Against this backdrop, the gang descended on Warangal targeting Ganesh nimajjanam, where people gather in large numbers, he said.

He said that minor boy involved in crime is a relative of Pochaiah. It's learnt that the gang has been training him how to steal cell phone in crowed areas.

The minor boy was involved in 11 cases in Warangal Commissionerate limits and Jammikunta police station limits. The Commissioner said that Central Crime Station (CCS) and Hanamkonda police arrested the gang in a joint operation while the accused were conducting recce at immersion points.