Six-member gang arrested for 27 hundi thefts in Andhra Pradesh

VISAKHAPATNAM: Amid the political slugfest over attacks on temples, the police on Sunday arrested a six-member gang for allegedly burgling temples in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts. 

The gang committed 27 hundi thefts at various temples and the motive, according to the police, appears to be pecuniary. 

​Visakhapatnam Range Deputy Inspector General LVK Ranga Rao said they were involved in burglaries for the past two months, and committed their latest crime at the Lord Abhayanjaneya Swamy temple in Vizianagaram on September 23.

They were caught after special teams were formed to nab those behind the series of burglaries at temples in the two districts and an unsuccessful bid to break the hundi at the Uma Ramalingeswara temple at Dasannapeta in Vizianagaram.

One of the team conducting checks on the outskirts of Vizianagaram around 3 am found an auto moving at a high speed that didn’t stop for the police. The police later managed to stop the vehicle and took six people — M Nagarjuna, T Veera Babu, M Dhanaraju, Ch Sai, A Chiranjeevi and G Eswar Rao — into custody. All of them are carpenters and painters from Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts.

“During interrogation, the gang confessed to have involved in stealing money from hundis in 19 temples. The gang  is suspected to have burgled eight more temples. All six members are habitual offenders and were involved in property offences in the region,” Ranga Rao said. However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact amount of cash stolen as temples usually don’t count the money and valuables deposited by devotees in hundis on a daily basis.

The gang revealed that they looted about `3 lakh from hundis in temples, including 10 in Visakhapatnam district. Thota Veerababu was involved in 11 cases, Mogulu Nagarjan in eight, Chappa Sai in seven and Guttuti Eswara Rao in one case, the DIG said. They were booked under Sections 457, 380 and 511 of the IPC at the Vizianagaram II Town police station. 

The DIG said the gang used to conduct recce at temples in the morning and strike at night. “We have intensified patrolling to check burglaries at temples. We appeal to people to report such incidents, so the offenders can be caught,” he said, and warned of action against people who spread rumours on religious issues on social media.