Karimnagar police nab three in sensational PMJ jewellery shop dacoity
Karimnagar police have arrested three members of an interstate gang involved in the sensational PMJ jewellery shop dacoity on May 3, 2026. The accused, hailing from Bihar and West Bengal, were caught with cash, mobile phones, SIM cards, and fake Aadhaar cards.
Karimnagar: In a major breakthrough, Karimnagar police arrested three members of the interstate dacoity gang involved in the sensational PMJ jewellery shop heist that took place on May 3, 2026. Out of 13 accused involved in the dacoity, three burglars, including two main accused, were arrested and produced before the court on Thursday.
The main accused Raghunath Karmakar alias Jagira Singh and Ravish Kumar and assistant Mehtab Khan were arrested. While Raghunath and Mehtab hail from Asansol of West Bengal, Ravish Kumar is from Nalanda of Bihar. Police recovered Rs 51,000 in cash, two mobile phones, two SIM cards, and fake Aadhar cards from them.
While Raghunath was arrested near Velichala cross roads in Ramadugu mandal on Wednesday evening, Ravish Kumar and Mehtab Khan were taken into custody in Bihar and West Bengal and brought through a transit warrant. While the gang leader Subodh Singh is in Purnia, Bihar jail, other accused Radhe Mishra, Pradyman, Sanoj alias Suryamani Kumar are absconding.
Producing the accused before the media here on Thursday, Commissioner of Police Gaush Alam explained the modus operandi of the gang. A total of 13 accused were involved in the incident. While five persons were directly involved in the theft, the remaining eight helped them. Out of five, three belong to Bihar and remaining two from West Bengal.
The gang members, who reached the state two months ago, moved around Khammam, Siddipet, Peddapalli and Karimnagar towns conducting reconnaissance of jewellery shops and banks. Finally, they planned to rob the PMJ jewellery shop in Karimnagar and stayed in a lodge at Peddapalli. After conducting recce of the jewellery shop, they shifted to Vijayalakshmi guest house at Dharmapuri on May 1, 2026 and prepared for the dacoity.
Before coming to Telangana, the gang purchased SIM cards from Mehtab Khan at the Jharkhand-West Bengal border for Rs 10,000 each.
One day before the incident, Raghunath went to Chandrapur of Maharashtra in a train and collected six pistols from two unidentified persons near Gadchandur outskirts and returned.
On May 3, morning, the five accused vacated the lodge and left for Karimnagar on two bikes by hiding their bags in a hill area and changing the number of places of bikes. After having breakfast at Velichala cross roads, they discussed the plan once again.
As per the plan, Radhe alias Abhay first entered the shop pretending himself as a customer at 10.50 am. Later, the remaining four entered the shop and threatened the staff with weapons. They opened fire when the staff resisted. Burglars escaped with a jewellery bag carrying 164.4 tolas of gold ornament and 112 caret of diamond ornaments worth Rs 82 lakh while accidentally leaving another bag inside the shop in panic.
The accused fled on their bikes along the same pre-decided route and reached Dharmapuri. Sanoj, Radhe and Pradyuman abandoned the Pulsar bike near the Godavari river bank and escaped by crossing the river by walk and boarded a train from Mancherial.
Meanwhile, Raghunath and Mishra travelled on the Apache bike carrying the jewellery bag to the Gundala forest area as instructed by their handlers. They escaped to Bihar by train by handing over the bag and bike to persons travelling in a white CRETA car.
Forming 20 special teams, police intensified the search operation to trace the accused. Knowing that the accused belong to other states, special teams were also sent to Bihar, West Bengal and Mumbai and nabbed the accused. Stating that the investigation was still going on, CP informed that five special teams are searching for the remaining accused and the stolen jewellery.
They managed to get more details about the accused with the mobile phone which was broken down by the accused near Gundala forest area. As part of the investigation, they analyzed the data of 1,000 calls. Not to reveal their details and divert the police investigation, they used fake Aadhar cards and fake number plates to bikes.
When asked about choosing Karimnagar for theft by burglars, CP said that compared to other south districts, Karimnagar was a safe place to escape. Instead of taking shelter in the town, they stayed 80 km away and chose to travel in rural areas to avoid police checkings as well as CCTV cameras. Moreover, they downloaded a Geo-tagged mobile application in their mobile phone to travel in rural areas.
CP informed to bring the main accused Subodh Singh on transit warrant from Purnia jail. Informing that a total of 150 police personnel were involved in the investigation, Gaush Alam thanked the police officers of different districts, different states and higher officials who extended their cooperation for the investigation.
