Hyderabad: Couple held for stealing jewelry from Covid patients at TIMS

Police said Ch Raju (36) and Ch Lathasri (39), were working as patient caretakers on a temporary basis at TIMS

Hyderabad: The Gachibowli police on Friday arrested a couple, who allegedly stole ornaments of people who succumbed to Covid-19 at the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS). Gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 10 lakh were recovered from them.

Police said Ch Raju (36) and Ch Lathasri (39), were working as patient caretakers on a temporary basis at TIMS. Residents of Rajiv Gruhakalpa in Yellammabanda in Kukatpally, the duo had met and got married in 2017, after Raju, a native of Mahabubnagar separated from his first wife and came to Hyderabad. Raju was earlier driving his own cab and after Lathasri began working as a patient attender in TIMS, he too joined there. Both were recruited on an outsourcing basis.

“He worked in Covid wards and noticed gold ornaments and other valuables left on bodies of patients who died. They then decided to steal the jewellery from the deceased, as well from patients who were in an unconscious or semi-conscious state,” M Venkateshwarlu, DCP (Madhapur), said.

While Lathasri kept an eye out, Raju stole the ornaments from the Covid bodies and patients under treatment, he said, adding that since January, the couple committed eight such offences at TIMS. Some of the stolen jewellery was mortgaged while some were sold. With several complaints being received, the Gachibowli police with the support of the Jagadgirigutta police and the Cyberabad Central Crime Station police from Madhapur and Balanagar jointly worked on the case and identified the couple before nabbing them on Friday. They were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.

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