HYDERABAD: The police on Tuesday night arrested a five-member interstate gang of dacoits by raiding their hideout in Shapur Nagar, near Adarsh Bank lane, and recovered three countrymade guns, daggers, monkey caps, gloves, bullets and other instruments used in crimes.
The police said they were tipped off by informers as the gang, which is responsible for over 175 grievous offences, was planning to loot banks and jewellery shops in the city’s suburbs.
During the raid, the accused tried to escape through the windows of a dilapidated building, but were surrounded by the police, who caught the gang unaware.
Stephen Raveendra, the Cyberabad police commissioner, said in a press conference that the accused were from Pune in Maharashtra and had come to the city to commit robberies and property-related offences.
The prime accused, identified as Nihal Singh, arrived in the city on April 8 after his relatives had conducted a recce of jewellery shops, banks and houses. The other accused joined him a day later and they stole a Tata Indica from Gummadidala village in Jeedimetla.
“The accused Nihal had already selected a dilapidated building, taking shelter and waiting for the right time, but their criminal intentions were shattered by the swift action of our officials,” Stephen Raveendra said.
Besides committing offences in Maharashtra, the gang is also wanted in Karnataka for a slew of robberies and break-ins, the police said, after alerting their counterparts in the two states.
The other accused were identified as Amar Singh, Jeeth Singh, Lucky Singh and Nishanth, all aged between 21 and 25 years, and natives of Pune in Maharashtra.
They were all booked under the PD Act, Arms Act and IPC sections for conspiracy and criminal intimidation and remanded to judicial custody.
Raveendra urged citizens to always save the contact number of the local police. “Any suspicious movements or persons can be reported on dial 100 facility or Cyberabad WhatsApp No- 9490617444,” he said.
