Vanasthalipuram heist: Hyderabad police in ‘wait and watch’ mode after failed attempts

HYDERABAD: It’s been more than a month since miscreants robbed 58.97 lakh in cash, meant to replenish an ATM at Vanasthalipuram here, and the Rachakonda police are yet to nab the culprits.

The suspects were identified as members of the Ramji Nagar gang from Tamil Nadu and special teams sent there to catch them returned empty-handed.

These special teams didn’t get much help from the local police, and other informants in the region were also of little use.

Since the day of the crime, the accused persons have not even visited their houses, forcing the police to adopt a ‘wait and watch’ approach. The cops, however, are confident of nabbing the offenders and recovering the money.

The crime was committed on May 7, when the gang targeted an armed guard who was watching the vehicle of a cash-management firm that replenishes ATMs.

The offenders stole the money in broad daylight at the busy Panama Junction.

Even before the guard realised that the money was missing, the gang boarded an auto rickshaw and fled. The police traced the auto rickshaw to LB Nagar Ring Road, but learnt that the suspects had switched vehicles.

CCTV footage from the junction, as well as further investigations, led the police to a public toilet in Malakpet, where they recovered the empty cash trunk. However, the police were unable to trace the gang’s escape from Hyderabad.

At least three teams were then sent to Ramji Nagar in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy district, to nab the culprits. The Rachakonda police provided clues to their counterparts in Trichy, but even the local police were unable to make a breakthrough in the case.

The officials then gathered a few local informants, who knew the gang members and their activities; but even they didn’t have much information to offer, as the offenders had been away from their houses for more than two weeks before the heist.

The police teams waited for the gang members to return home, but to their disappointment, none of them came back.

The informants reportedly told the cops that the suspects were aware that the Rachakonda police were camping in the region, and were not planning to return home anytime soon. Unable to catch the culprits, the police teams returned from Trichy.

Cops confident of recovering money

Since the day of the crime, the accused persons have not even visited their residences, forcing the investigating police officials to adopt a ‘wait and watch’ approach. The cops, however, are confident of nabbing the offenders and recovering the money.