It was a hard case to crack, reveal investigating officers
A notorious criminal who had walked out of a Kadapa jail on December 8 last year found himself arrested again, this time by the Visakhapatnam city police, on charges of committing a sensational burglary at a wedding resort in which he allegedly looted the bride’s jewellery the very night before her wedding.
Police said the burglary at a well-known resort at Rushikonda came to light on December 24 just hours before the wedding. The accused, identified as Pokathota Gangadhar (29), a resident of Vijayawada and an ex-offender, was arrested from Poorna Market on Wednesday.
Police officials from the Crime Wing said that this was one case in recent times that proved to be difficult to crack, as the accused had taken care not to leave behind any clues at the scene of the offence. Police recovered stolen property worth ₹27 lakh from the accused.
“In the early hours of December 24, Gangadhar scaled up a wall and entered the resort. He then managed to gain entry into a room in which the valuables were kept and decamped with a bag containing the bride’s gold ornaments through a window. The wedding party was fast asleep at the time of the incident,” Commissioner of Police Manish Kumar Sinha said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
“The only clue we had was the CCTV footage. He came walking down the road and then boarded a cab. However, the registration number of the cab was not visible,” he said.
“Following a complaint lodged by the victims, an FIR was registered and several teams were formed to arrest the culprit. Some teams were rushed to Tirupati, Nalgonda and a few other areas to track the accused. After herculean efforts, the police team managed to solve the case with the help of technical evidence,” he said.
Police said that the accused is an orphan and a resident of Vijayawada. In 2012, he had worked at a restaurant in the city as a waiter, where he committed several offences for easy money. The accused committed 18 offences including 10 in Vizag in the past, the police said.
On December 8, 2020, Gangadhar was released from a prison in Kadapa district and he then came to Vizag, where he committed the crime.
“During the course of investigation, there were many obstacles and at one point of time we lost hope of solving the case. But due to constant efforts by the police teams and support from senior officials, the accused was nabbed,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (CCS) Sravan Kumar.
Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner asked managements of hotels and resorts to have functioning CCTV cameras on their premises without fail. He warned that action would be initiated against them in the coming days as per law if the norms are not followed.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crimes) V. Suresh Babu, ADCP (Crimes) Venugopal Naidu, and Inspector of Police (Crimes Harbour sub division) M. Avatharam were present.
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