CHITTOOR: The Chittoor police, in a joint operation with the Madhya Pradesh police, cracked the sensational theft of mobile phones worth Rs 8 crore in a highway dacoity on Puttur-Chennai national highway on the night of August 25.
The operation led to the recovery of 7,522 mobile phones worth Rs 8 crore, and the arrest of three members of the gang on September 29. The accused were identified as Rohith Jalla (22) from Tonkuru taluk, Ankith Jhanja (25) from Dhani Ghati in Hatpipliya taluk and Ram Gade (25) of Ashti taluk in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh.
“Three special teams led by Pileru Circle Inspector S Sadiq Ali, in a joint operation with the Madhya Pradesh police, conducted raids on the dens of Kanjarbhat gang at around 2 am on September 29 and arrested three members. The gang tried to sell mobile phones in Bangladesh,” said Chittoor Superintendent of Police S Senthil Kumar.
Stating that the special teams camped in Dewas district for a month to track down the gang, the SP appreciated Circle Inspectors K Maddaiah (Nagari Urban) and M Rajasekhar (Nagari Rural) and Sub-Inspectors V Ramakrishnaiah, U Prathap Reddy, Mallikarjuna Reddy and Ramanjaneyulu for cracking the sensational theft case.
It may be mentioned here that on August 25 night, a container with 7,500 mobile phones from Xiaomi mobile manufacturing unit at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, on its way to Mumbai, was hijacked by a gang near Nagari in Chittoor district. After allegedly assaulting its driver, the gang took away part of the consignment, worth about `8 crore. Based on the complaint filed by the driver, the Nagari police registered a case under Cr.No. 411/2020, Sections 363, 341, 342, 323, 395 and 109 of IPC and launched an investigation.
Cases registered against gang in AP, TN
Kanjarbhat gang committed a dacoity in a similar manner under Dagadarthi police station limits in Nellore district. A case was registered against the gang under Cr.No. 15/2019 under Sections 395, 363, 341, 342 and 323 of Indian Penal Code (highway dacoity)
Similarly, a case was registered against the gang under Cr.No.71/19 under Sections 342, 363 and 397 of Indian Penal Code at Pallikonda police station in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu
The gang also made unsuccessful dacoity attempts in two cases vide Cr.No. 8/2019 under Section 302 of IPC at Gangavaram police station in Chittoor district and Cr.No. 143/18 under Section 302 of IPC at Kanganapalli police station in Anantapur district where they killed the drivers but could not loot the property