10 hours ago
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Sri Sathya Sai district police on Wednesday cracked a long-standing trail of house burglaries by arresting a five-member inter-State gang involved in multiple crimes across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for nearly two years. The arrests came after a sudden spike in complaints of thefts from locked houses, particularly in Hindupur and the district’s surrounding mandals.
Addressing a press conference here, Superintendent of Police (SP) S. Satish Kumar said the arrests led to the recovery of 309.13 grams of gold ornaments, 3,010 grams of silver, and three motorcycles, collectively valued at nearly ₹40 lakh.
The gang’s kingpin, Ratna Raju alias Teja, a native of Guntur, had a staggering 55 cases against him spread over various police stations in the two Telugu States. The remaining accused — Babu Prasad, Ganga Raju, Uppara Suresh, and Siddiq Saab — hail from Hindupur and bordering areas of Karnataka. Several of them already face multiple cases of house break-ins.
The SP said the gang operated with precision. They surveyed neighbourhoods during the day, identified houses locked by families leaving for work or travel, and struck during late-night hours. A special team was constituted 20 days ago under the supervision of Deputy SP (Hindupur) K.V. Mahesh, which tracked suspicious movements, analysed CCTV footage, and used technical surveillance to zero in on the suspects.
The arrests were made early Wednesday morning, and during interrogation, the men confessed to involvement in 10 burglaries under various police station limits, including Hindupur Town, Hindupur Rural, Somandepalli, Lepakshi, Gorantla, Kadiri, and Chilamathur.
SP Satish Kumar urged residents to install CCTV cameras in their houses, noting that such systems were becoming critical tools in both preventing and solving property offences. “People can monitor their homes from anywhere, and in case of a crime, CCTV footage ensures swift identification and arrest,” he said.
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