Hyderabad: In an incident straight out of a crime thriller, fraudsters impersonating police officers looted a gold trader in broad daylight, only to be outwitted by another set of fruadsters who snatched their stolen money and disappeared. In a shocking and dramatic turn of events, the Hyderabad police unravelled a multi-layered heist, ultimately arresting 18 people and recovering a significant part of the stolen loot.
The Original Plot
Two brothers, Chandrashekhar Varma and Nagaraj Kumar Varma, hailing from Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, were known for duping gold traders by promising gold at 5% below market price. With the help of a middleman named Radheshyam, they identified a wealthy trader, Hariram, at Monda Market in Hyderabad, and chalked out a plan to rob him.
The Varma brothers then recruited a 28-member gang comprising individuals from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and even a dismissed Telangana State Police constable, Keshavulu. The gang then divided itself into three sub-groups, according to their areas – AP, Uppal, and Lingampalli. They met at a hotel in Secunderabad and devised a movie-style heist.
The Robbery
On June 18, after verifying that the trader had the cash ready, Keshavulu, along with Vinod Kumar, Vijayasekhar Raju, and Teja, drove to the location in a rented car. Posing as a team from Rachakonda police, they threatened the trader and looted Rs. 70 lakh in cash along with mobile phones. Meanwhile, two other gang members, Rambabu and Bhanuprakash, fled separately on a two-wheeler with a bag full of money.
The Robbers Got Robbed
Just when the gang thought they had pulled off the perfect crime, loan recovery agents Roshan Sunil, Aravind, Rajesh, and Surender spotted the two-wheeler near Jubilee Bus Stand while checking for defaulters.
Mistaking the riders for drug peddlers (due to a hookah pot seen on the bike), they stopped them near Tirumalagiri and snatched the bag of money after threatening them. Realising the bag contained lakhs of rupees, Roshan and his team disappeared.
The mastermind Roshan later gave Rs 10 lakh to his mother, who used Rs 6 lakh to buy gold jewellery. Roshan then fled to Goa with friends, fearing arrest. According to the police, an NDPS case was already pending against Roshan, the loan recovery agent from Yapral, under the Jawaharnagar police station limits.
The Chase And Arrest
Meanwhile, Hyderabad’s Market Police, led by DCP Rashmi Perumal, launched a massive investigation. Over 100 officers analysed CCTV footage from across the city and tracked a bike belonging to the recovery agents. The police then arrested 18 out of the 28, seizing ₹43 lakh cash, 59 grams of gold jewellery (worth ₹6 lakh), 2 cars, 4 two-wheelers, and 23 mobile phones.
From posing as police to robbing a trader, and then being robbed themselves by unrelated agents, the case has shocked even seasoned investigators. “It was like a movie inside a movie,” said an officer involved in the investigation.
Lookout For Remaining Suspects
Special police teams are now on the lookout for 10 absconding suspects.
The police have reiterated a warning to the public and traders to be cautious of “too good to be true” gold deals and not to handle large cash transactions without proper verification.
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