TIRUPATI: Ten people, including two members of a con gang and a Hyderabad-based YouTuber who staged a ‘fake shooting‘ to expose the gang, have been arrested by Sri Sathya Sai district police in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. While the gang is accused of duping several people by selling them fake gold, the other eight were part of the YouTuber’s group.
On Oct 20, a ‘firing’ was reported near Ramapuram bus stop in Sri Sathya Sai district, triggering panic. During investigation, police learnt of the con gang’s modus operandi. SP V Rathna said the four-member gang – Pomar Bangari, Rana Harish, Rana Babu Rao and Pomar Vilas, all from Shikaripalem in AP’s Annamayya district – used to dupe gullible people by offering them ‘gold’ at low prices. Victims would later find that the yellow metal they had bought was fake.
Recently, the gang duped one Kisari Naresh from Manasanapalli village in Telangana’s Jangoan district similarly. On realising that he had been cheated, Naresh approached his friend Pulicherla Aravind Kumar, a Hyderabad-based YouTuber and self-proclaimed ethical hacker, who then plotted to expose the con gang’s activities on his YouTube channel.
Aravind spent Rs 400 on two fake pistols that sounded like real guns when fired, and some fake bullets. He then scheduled a ‘meeting’ with the con gang on Oct 20.
8 arrested for impersonating Telangana police, creating panic in public place
On the day of the meeting, the gang members suspected something amiss when they saw Aravind accompanied by seven others dressed in safari suits, looking like cops.
When the YouTuber and his aides began filming, the scammers tried to flee the spot on bikes. This is when Aravind’s group began ‘firing’ at the gang with fake pistols to stop them.
While the conmen managed to escape, someone alerted Bathalapalli PS about the ‘firing’. Cops analysed CCTV footage from the nearest toll plaza and confronted Aravind, who told them they were from Telangana Police and were in hot pursuit of some criminals. After Bathalapalli Police investigated further, the mystery behind the ‘firing’ episode came to light.
Bathalapalli Police arrested two members of the con gang Pomar Bangari and Rana Harish and seized around 2kg fake gold from the duo. The other members of the gang are on the run
Eight members of YouTuber Aravind’s group were also taken into custody for creating panic in a public place and trying to impersonate Telangana police. Cops seized two fake pistols and 19 fake bullets from them.
