The police said that they had seized four four-wheelers, 16 cellphones, and ₹35,000 cash from the gang that had members from three states.
Published Jan 31, 2024 | 12:27 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 31, 2024 | 12:27 PM
8 of the 10 accused have been arrested. (Representational image/Creative Commons)
Police officers from the Raidurgam Police Station, under the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate in Telangana’s capital Hyderabad, said on Tuesday, 30 January, that they had busted a ransom-kidnap gang involving a sub-inspector from the Andhra Pradesh Police.
The gang of 10 conspired with the former manager of an IT company and demanded a large sum from the company’s Director as well as abducted three employees. Of the 10 members, two were from Telangana, seven from Andhra Pradesh, and one from Uttar Pradesh.
Eight of the 10 were arrested on Sunday, 28 January, and admitted to committing the crime during interrogation, the police said.
Darshan Sugunakara Shetty, Director of AJA ADS India Private Limited (the company the gang targetted), filed a complaint on 27 January with the Raidurgam Police Station.
The police registered a case under Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 378 (theft), and 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code and proceeded with the investigation.
The police identified six of the arrested accused as former IT firm manager Akkera Ranjith Kumar, Ranjith’s friend Vijay Shekhar, advocate Polimera Mahendra Kumar, Mahendra’s close friend Baliga Rahul, Rahul’s friend Dadiboina Subba Krishna, and cyber-expert Shaik Mohammed Abdul Quadir.
The cops added that Subba Krishna made arrangements for the cars and other logistics.
The police said that three others — two of whom were arrested — were pretending to be police inspectors and constables. They were identified as Ponnolu Sandeep Kumar and Bhoopathiraju Raghu Raju.
The two absconders are a 2012-batch police sub-inspector (PSI) Sujan and Raja, who pretended to be a police constable.
PSI Sujan is said to be associated with the DIG Range Office in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
The police said that they had seized four four-wheelers, 16 cellphones, and ₹35,000 cash from the gang.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Madhapur Zone) Dr Vineeth G said that on 27 January, complainant Darshan Sugunakara Shetty said that his company was targeted by the gang a day earlier.
Shetty is the Director of AJA ADS India Private Limited, which conducts US IT recruiting and provides IT support. It has more than 40 employees.
The DCP said that the accused Mahendra and his accomplice Ranjith planned a extortion and abduction plot, targeting the company’s Director.
Mahendra discussed the plan with PSI Sujan, who advised Mahendra to physically verify the office operations before planning further actions, he added.
Sujan also introduced him to a technical expert named Quadir, who created a fake police ID in his name, designating himself as an assistant investigation officer specialising in cybercrimes.
Sujan then allegedly negotiated with Mahendra a “fee” of ₹15 lakh on Quadir’s behalf for his part in the enterprise. They then targeted the US IT recruiting company.
The gang, including Mahendra, Quadir (posing as a cyber expert officer), Sandeep (posing as a police inspector from the CB-CID), and two accomplices (Raghu Raju and Raja, posing as constables), gained entry into the office premises of AJA ADS India Private Limited and captured photos and videos of the employees on 26 January afternoon, the police said.
They also turned off the power supply to the systems before removing the Digital Video Recorder of the CCTV cameras in the premises, a release from Cyberabad Police Commissionerate said.
With Quadir displaying his fabricated ID card, the gang cornered the company director, claiming that they were acting on behalf of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in response to a complaint from US officials regarding alleged misconduct by a client.
They allegedly forced the Director into negotiating a “settlement” — apparently to sweep the case under the rug — for ₹10 crore. After intense bargaining, the amount was lowered to ₹2.3 crore.
Faced with limited time and fearing for the safety of his employees, the Director managed to arrange for only ₹71.80 lakh, the police said.
Following the instructions of the accused, the Director transferred funds to four accounts — one of his own and three of his employees.
₹26 lakh went to his account, ₹16.90 lakh each to Ravi and Chethan’s accounts, and ₹12 lakh to Hari Ponnada’s account.
Subsequently, the gang abducted the three employees, taking them to Hotel Balcony in Madhapur on the evening of 26 January, the police informed. The hostages were confined to a locked room and threatened with harm if the remaining amount was not paid, the police added.
The accused allegedly seized the abductees’ ATM cards, withdrawing ₹2.5 lakh through them and transferring ₹10 lakh online to multiple accounts.
However, when the Director did not respond to their demands, the accused left the hostages stranded in the hotel room on the same day, the DCP said.
Following their rescue, the police arrested eight of the 10 members of the gang based on the Director’s complaint.
