Two held in theft case

Hanamkonda: The CCS Police on Wednesday arrested a thief and his accomplice within 48 hours of stealing gold jewellery worth around Rs 5 Lakh. The accused has been identified as Samudrala Raju alias Suddala Anil Raju and Madarapu Bhaskar Rao, both hailing from Subbakkapalle village under Tekumatla mandal in Bhupalpally district.

Revealing the details, Warangal Commissioner of Police V Ravinder said that Raju, a dropout, who befriended with two others – Anand Kumar and Anil Kumar – in Jeedimetla, Hyderabad, resorted to thefts to lead a lavish life. All the three were arrested and sent to jail in 2005.

After serving a term in jail, Raju returned to his native place Subbakkapalle and worked as a driver. He later shifted to Desaipet in Warangal, where he developed a rapport with a grocery owner – Ramesh.

A couple of days ago, Raju went to Ramesh’s house, where he found the latter’s mother-in-law alone. He clandestinely blinded the old woman with a bedsheet and fastened her hands so that she could not recognise him. Later, he took away 16.5 tolas of gold jewellery. Later, Raju went to his native village and kept the stolen jewellery with his friend Madarapu Bhaskar.

The CCS police arrested Raju when he was trying to sell a gold chain at the Bullion market near Intezar Gunj police station. Later, the police arrested Bhaskar and recovered the booty from the duo.