The Halia police of Nalgonda district on Friday busted a gang of inter-State tractor thieves and seized from them seven tractors, 17 trailers and a motorbike worth ₹53 lakh.
The gang of three youth hailing from Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh were involved in as many as 24 associated thefts in various mandals of Nalgonda, Kodad and Khammam in a span of 15 months.
According to the police, G. Venkata Krishna, 27, and brothers B. Hanumantha Rao, 26, and B. Goparaju, 23, used to recce villages, set a convenient time and drive away the vehicles.
While two people accompany the main person on a motorbike, the other joins trailers to the tractor, or starts isolated vehicles on roads, fields and those parked outside houses, and drives away.
The stolen vehicles were taken and sold in Guntur and Vijayawada.
Key officials in the investigation said arrests based on suspicion were made on Thursday when they were at a workshop near Kodad crossroads for repairs.
Following investigation, it was found they were involved in 19 theft cases along the agriculture-rich mandals of Miryalaguda and Kodad, and the remaining in Kusumanchi of Khammam and Vatsavai in Krishna district.
Nalgonda Superintendent of Police A.V. Ranganath later inspected the seized vehicles at Halia police station and appreciated the team's effort and offered a ₹ 10,000 cash reward.