Inspired by Money Heist on Netflix, gang pulls off kidnaps in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Spanish heist crime drama series Money Heist may not have been inspired by real-life events, but it has inspired criminals in Hyderabad. Taking cue from the hit Netflix web series, four members allegedly committed kidnapping and about half-a-dozen other offences.

The Asifnagar police busted the kidnapping gang and have arrested four of its members here on Tuesday.

The arrested persons are G Suresh (27), a driver and kingpin from Attapur, M Rohit (18), Jagadish (25), K Kunal (19), all three private employees from Mehdipatnam. The absconding suspect is Swetha Chary alias Sweety from Jagadgirigutta.

Suresh, who is the brother of G Sudhakar, a burglar has been committing burglaries since 2011 and has been involved in 14 offences. He was last arrested in December 2019 by the Miyapur police and jailed. He continued to commit offences after being released in February 2020.

According to the police, Suresh was inspired by the popular Netflix series ‘Money Heist’, where the lead character i.e., a professor recruited persons to commit several crimes. The accused decided to recruit people, including women to kidnap people for ransom and purchased a used car in August 2021.

“He targeted people in his friends’ circle by inducing them and laying trap with the help of hired girls. They sent the victims voice messages, text messages on WhatsApp and Instagram. They asked the victims to meet at convenient places to execute plan,” said C V Anand, Police Commissioner, Hyderabad.

When the targeted person reached the spot, the gang would kidnap and take him to a disclosed location.

“While kidnapping, to hide their identity, they wore masks and also covered the victim’s face. Suresh used the victim’s mobile phone to make a WhatsApp call to the family members and demand for ransom. To avoid police tracking, he kept his mobile phone on flight mode and used the Wi-Fi hot spot of other gang members,” Anand said.

After receiving money from the victim’s relatives, Suresh threatened the person in captivity against approaching the police and lets them off. As the victims were lured and trapped by women, they usually do not complain to the police. Taking advantage, the gang continued kidnapping people.

The gang was involved in various kidnap cases including in Langar Houz, Jeedimetla, Tenali Rural, Asifnagar, Rajendranagar and Sadashivpet.

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