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Hyderabad: Bonsai thief nabbed, tree recovered

"With the help of the footage, we traced one person and caught him. Efforts are on to nab the other, " said an official.

By Telangana Today

Updated On - 15 January 2021, 08:56 PM

Hyderabad: Bonsai thief nabbed, tree recovered

Hyderabad:In the end, it was not a suave, seasoned criminal who crept away stealthily with a costly 15-year-old Bonsai tree from the residence of former Director-General of Police V Appa Rao. It was a 21-year-old construction worker with no criminal history at all.

The youngster, according to the police, had seen the bonsais regularly on his way to work, taken a fancy to the plant and decided to steal it, and if possible, to make some money by selling it.

The Jubilee Hills police, who on Friday announced the arrest of G Prasannanjaneyulu (21), a construction worker from SPR Hills in Yousufguda, said the youngster had carried out the crime with the help of a friend, Abhishek, also from Yousufguda, who is on the run now.

The police, who examined footage from surveillance cameras in the neighbourhood, had found visuals of the two men coming on a bike and stealing the tree kept in a pot near the gate.

Prasannanjaneyulu, who works at various construction sites in and around Jubilee Hills, while roaming through the residential colonies had noticed the attractive bonsai trees kept in ceramic pots in front of the retired IPS officer’s residence on Jubilee Hills Road No 18.

“He decided to steal the bonsai tree kept near the main gate and shared his idea with Abhishek, who agreed to help,” said AR Srinivas, Joint Commissioner of Police, West Zone.

Accordingly, in the early hours of Sunday, the two set out on Abhishek’s motorcycle and stole the bonsai. According to Jubilee Hills Detective Inspector A Ramesh, footage from the cameras in the neighbourhood and those along the route to and from Rao’s residence helped in tracking down the suspects, who were identified with the help from local informants later.
Prasannanjaneyulu was arrested from his house, where the cops found the stolen tree since he was yet to find a customer.

It was last Monday that Rao’s wife Sridevi lodged a complaint with the police, stating that the bonsai had gone missing. Their gardener, who remembered the bonsai in its place on Saturday, noticed it missing while watering the plants on Monday.

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