Telangana cops cut short Hosur heist gang’s daring escape
Hyderabad: One of the most daring gold heists of recent times, which saw an armed gang led by a 22-year-old student rob Muthoot Finance branch in Hosur of Tamil Nadu and cross three States on their way to Nagpur with police forces hot on their trail, ended with the Telangana Police cutting short the escape on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The stolen gold, hidden in a container lorry that had the gang driving ahead in another vehicle akin to Hollywood movie scripts, was recovered intact along with Rs 93,000 and seven weapons. Seven of the alleged dacoits were nabbed while two managed to escape.
The heist episode began on Friday, when the gang, wearing helmets and masks barged into the Muthoot Finance branch at Hosur in Tamil Nadu around 9.15 am. Tying up the employees and threatening them with pistols, the gang stole 25.5 KG of mortgaged gold ornaments and fled the spot on three motorcycles.
According to Cyberabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar, the gang rode up to the TN-Karnataka border, where they abandoned the bikes and switched in to a pre-arranged SUV. The gold was hidden in a container lorry, also hired earlier, and waiting on the border. The gang switched the SUV with another Sumo at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh after managing to cross the borders of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Even as the gang were planning on what to do from Nagpur, a phone call at 10 pm on Friday from Krishnagiri Superintendent of Police Bandi Gangadhar to the Telangana Police, indicating that the dacoits were travelling in a Sumo as pilot for the container, saw over 100 police personnel from the three Commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda fanning out to lay a trap.
The escape plan, which worked good for 670 kilometres and for over 17 hours, finally fell apart at the Raikal Toll Plaza in Mahabubnagar around 3 am on Saturday, with the TS Police beginning to tail the Sumo. At the Thondupally Toll Plaza near Shamshabad, where a fully armed ambush party waited for dacoits, the Sumo was intercepted.
“We allowed the Sumo to proceed from Raikal towards Thondupally since our armed police personnel along with an ambush party was posted there to tackle the armed dacoits if they open fire,” Sajjanar said.
A police team headed by Shamshabad DCP N Prakash Reddy at Thondupally nabbed the six suspects in the Sumo. On questioning, they spilled the beans on the container, which was then intercepted by another police team at the Medchal toll plaza.
The team could not find the stolen gold in the lorry, and it was during a detailed inspection of the vehicle that the police found a secret cavity behind the driver’s seat, in which the gold and weapons were hidden.
Also read:
Hosur Muthoot Finance dacoity: Gang nabbed by Cyberabad Police
Gang pulls off Muthoot heist in 15 mins
Hosur Heist: Gang had made similar attempt at Muthoot Ludhiana
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