HYDERABAD: Three police personnel and four others were arrested on Friday for allegedly digging up private land in search of treasure at a village in Bhongir district. The accused persons, including a former deputy sarpanch who is now associated with the TRS party, dug up the said land using earth moving machinery. Three others involved in the hunt are absconding.
According to police, the huge parcel of land, located on the outskirts of Velpupally village, belongs to a doctor from Hyderabad. Legend has it that the village had treasures from days of yore buried in its land.
Police said that it was Dyanaboina Achaiah, the former deputy sarpanch of the village, who had hatched the plan to dig up the treasure. He shared information about the same with A Srinivas Reddy, who was working as the head constable of Choutuppal Police Station. Srinivas contacted his former colleagues A Ramakrishna, a home guard at Bhongir fire station, V Prabhaker, a constable at Motakondur Police Station, and others. The accused officials are now under suspension.
On September 13, the 10-member gang decided to dig up the booty. They hired an earth mover for the same. Every night since the said date, they had dug up a portion of the land. This went on for about a week or so.
However, their plans were foiled by a shepherd from a neighbouring village who was looking for his lost sheep in the area. He could not help but notice ‘unusual activity’. Moreover, he recognised the former sarpanch Achaiah from the scene. Word got around. Soon afterwards, the owner of the land, who currently resides at Domalguda in Hyderabad, rushed to the spot and found that his land was dug up deep and wide. He lodged a complaint with Turkapally police on October 13.
Based on witness statements and technical evidence, police identified 10 accused persons. Seven of them were arrested and produced before the court on Thursday. The hunt for the remaining three is on.