Mudigonda police busts kidnap gang, arrests eight persons
According to Mudigonda Inspector, O Murali, an accused Ramaraju had enmity with Pastam Yesu Raju of the same village and plotted to kidnap and extort money from him.
Khammam: Mudigonda police busted a kidnap gang and arrested eight persons on Thursday in a kidnap and extortion case.
According to Mudigonda Inspector of Police, O Murali, an accused Pastam Ramaraju alias Chinna Guruji of Gandhasiri village of Mudigonda mandal had enmity with Pastam Yesu Raju of the same village and plotted to kidnap and extort money from him.
He approached one of his acquaintances; Daggupati Ramadevi of Venkatagiri in Khammam gives her Rs 50,000 as an advance to kidnap Yesu Raju. To execute the kidnap plot Ramadevi engaged her followers Kancharla Nageswara Rao and Dasari Ramesh, who along with Vasikarla Sai Krishna and Kamatham Vineeth formed into a gang.
The gang hired a driver Palimela Praveen to engage a car for kidnapping Yesu Raju.
Ramaraju also paid Rs 50, 000 to Nageswara Rao and Ramesh and hired Gandham Anjaiah to track Yesu Raju’s movements. On September 25 night when Yesu Raju along with Anjaiah was returning to Gandhasiri from Kamalapuram in a car, the gang intercepted him and took him to Khammam new bus stand by beating and punching him.
They threatened Yesu Raju that he would be killed if he failed to pay Rs 1 lakh; he got scared and paid Rs.60, 000 to Nageswara Rao through PhonePe assuring that he would pay the rest of the money after two days. Later in the night the gang left the kidnapped man at the bus stand area.
As the gang made threatening calls to Yesu Raju he again paid Rs.16, 500 in two installments through PhonePe. He could not lodge a police complaint as he was afraid of the gang and on October 8 he lodged a complaint with Mudigonda police.
The CI Murali registered a case and started the investigation. Two police teams were formed to search for the accused. Based on a tip off that the accused were going towards Vijayawada in three cars, police caught the accused at Suvarnapuram.
Police seized 10 cell phones, three cars from them and produced them in court for judicial remand. The gang has committed similar crimes in Thorrur of Mahabubabad in the past. The CI appreciated SI G Naresh, trainee SI Rohit and staff for nabbing the accused.