HYDERABAD: In scenes straight from the movies, Mahabubnagar district police chased a five-member interstate gang of burglars for around 400 km -- from Mahabubnagar to Sholapur in Maharashtra — before successfully nabbing them. After a house break-in offence was reported from Jadcherla on January 23, the police, acting on clues found at the spot, nabbed a habitual offender in Hyderabad.
As soon as he landed in the police net, other members of the gang, who were also taking shelter in Hyderabad, fled the city. The police immediately deployed special teams to track and nab them. Based on technical evidence, the police found that the fleeing suspects were moving towards Sholapur. However, they had no clear idea what the suspects looked like or the type of car they were using.
Undaunted, the police went after them, informing their counterparts in Maharashtra about the chase. On the outskirts of Sholapur, they noticed a vehicle with a TS registration number among the vehicles lined up due to nakabandi. They intercepted it and to their luck, found the suspects in the car. Police later found that the accused, to evade arrest, circled the 158-km long Hyderabad Outer Ring Road twice and then changed their route towards Sholapur.
The accused also told police that they stole fuel from vehicles parked by the highway for their journey. However, when they were close to Sholapur, they ran out of fuel and could not find any vehicle to steal from. This forced them to slow down and thus they had stopped at the nakabandi. The stolen jewellery and vehicle used by the gang for committing the offence were recovered from them. The gang was involved in a series of offences in Karnataka, Mahabubnagar and in Rachakonda commissionerate limits.
Blind chase
Based on technical evidence, the police found that the fleeing suspects were moving towards Sholapur. However, they had no clear idea what the suspects looked like or the type of car they were using.