The Chittoor police arrested four persons and seized from them 3.5 kg gold bars, worth ₹3.2 crore, in connection with a highway robbery that occurred on the Nayakaneri forest road on April 2 evening.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday (April 6), Superintendent of Police (SP) V.N. Manikantha Chandolu said Chetan Kumar, a staff at a jewellery mart in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka, was taking the gold bars from V. Kota in Chittoor district to Pernambut in Tamil Nadu.
A group of unidentified persons waylaid his car and robbed him of the gold at knifepoint. Following a complaint from KGF-based gold merchant Deepak Kumar at V. Kota police station on April 3, the police registered a case under Section 309 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Subsequently, the SP formed four special teams led by Deputy SP (Palamaner) D. Prabhakar, with police personnel drawn from V. Kota, Gangavaram, Baireddipalle, Special Branch and Crime Investigation Department. The teams searched Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the culprits by analysing CCTV footage.
On the night of April 5, the police teams intercepted an SUV and detained its four occupants during a vehicle check at Raghavapalli on V. Kota–Palamaner highway, finding their movements suspicious. During an interrogation, it was found that they committed the crime, according to the police.
The accused were identified as Jayapal (67), a councillor from KGF, Mukram (42), Babu (61) and Shanmugam (59), all from KGF. The police seized five gold bars weighing 3.5 kg and the vehicle.
The SP said that during the investigation, it was found that Mukram, a driver working for a jewellery merchant in KGF, passed on the information regarding the movement of Chetan Kumar to Jayapal, who executed the robbery. The SP said the special teams were still on the lookout for others involved.
Mr. Chandolu presented the special teams with certificates of appreciation and cash rewards.
Published - April 06, 2025 06:51 pm IST
