VIJAYAWADA: In a major development, Vijayawada Police on Thursday arrested a gang of five youth for committing robberies and murdering six elderly persons across Penamaluru and Kanchikacherla PS limits in Krishna district. Addressing media persons, Commissioner of Police B Sreenivasulu said the accused were identified as Velpuri Prabhakar Kumar (22), Sunkara Gopi Raju (22) of Poranki, Ponamala Chakravarthy alias Chakri (21), Moram Naga Durga Rao alias Chanti (21) of Tadigadapa and Maddhi Phanindra Kumar (20) of Kamayya Thopu.
On June 12, the accused tried to commit theft at an ATM centre under Penamaluru PS limits. A case has been booked in this regard and investigation has been launched. After examining the CCTV footage in the ATM, the police found two of the accused had worn a white plastic bag on their heads and tried to break open the ATM, but failed. Based on the CCTV footage, the police have recognised the duo as old offenders and arrested them.
“Our probe has revealed that the duo is involved in the double murder of an elderly couple at Kanchikacherla PS limits. During interrogation, it was revealed they were also involved in four more unreported murders of elderly persons in Penamaluru PS limits. He explained the two main accused—Prabhakar Kumar and Gopi Raju—both auto drivers first got together and were involved in small thefts. Later their mutual friends, Chakri, Chanti and Phanindra, joined in and began targeting elderly persons living alone in Penamaluru area.
From October 2020 to June 2021, the accused have committed six murders in five cases and were also involved in 12 other offences such as robberies and thefts,” he said. Explaining their modus operandi, Sreenivasulu said they used to conduct a recce of the houses that they would target. The accused focussed on double door houses as they are much easier to break in. They don’t aim for large properties. So far they have stolen jewellery worn by the victims and some cash from the cupboards, Sreenivasulu informed.