Chittoor police arrest five-member inter-state burglary gang, recover ₹90 lakh in valuables

Chittoor district police have arrested a five-member inter-state burglary gang and recovered valuables worth around ₹90 lakh, including 404 grams of gold, 17 kg of silver and three two-wheelers.

Addressing the media in Chittoor on Sunday, Superintendent of Police Tushar Dudi said the gang was responsible for four thefts in Kallur, Palasamudram, Gangadhara Nellore and Thavanampalle mandals. The most significant of these was a burglary at Sri Krishna Jewellers on Punganur Road on the intervening night of July 17-18, in which the shutters were broken open and 314 grams of gold and 20 kg of silver were taken. A case was registered at Kallur police station.

A special team was constituted under Deputy SP (Chittoor) J. Venkata Narayana, Circle Inspector (Kallur) M. Jayaramaiah and Sub-Inspector U. Venkateswarlu. Acting on technical evidence, CCTV footage and human intelligence, the team arrested the gang near Deenabandhapuram village in Palasamudram mandal on Saturday night.

The arrested have been identified as R. Dinesh (25) of Kanikapuram in Palasamudram mandal, who has 18 theft cases against him; Balayya Chiranjeevi (34) of Tiruttani in Tamil Nadu, who is also an accused in a murder case in Puttur of Tirupati district; S.U. Jagan (19); S. Vasanth Kumar (19); and D. Silambarasan of Tiruttani.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they sold a portion of the stolen goods in Vellore and Chennai and used the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle.