GUNTUR: The police on Thursday arrested a couple, who snatched away gold chain from a woman in the Old City on September 5. Disclosing this to newsmen here, Guntur Urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao said the couple snatched away the gold chain from K Suvarna Lakshmi, who runs a tailoring and cloth shop at her house. The identity of the couple was revealed during analysis of footage of CCTV camera at the place. Based on a visiting card of Chandamama Catering found at the place, the police approached Ravikanth of Sangadigunta. He provided a SIM card to K Koteswara Rao, a worker in a footwear shop who in return gave it to Puppala Manikantha.
It was revealed during investigation that Manikantha was selling stolen gold to one Sai. By posing himself as a reporter of a popular Telugu TV news channel, he used to trap women and force them into prostitution. He along with G Bhavani had taken a flat on rent in My Homes Apartment from there they were running a prostitution racket. He used to record all the happenings in the flat with hidden cameras and blackmail the customers showing them their nude video clips. He extorted Rs 15 lakh from some customers. He trapped K Padma of the same apartment. Manikantha started luring wealthy people with the help of Padma and Bhavani.