The gang of men posing as cops who ‘seized’ ₹18.50 lakh cash from a businessman in Hyderabad’s Panjagutta had an Armed Reserve (AR) police constable in uniform among them, said the police. The Commissioner of Rachakonda police issued orders to dismiss the 2018 batch constable on Saturday.
Taking advantage of Model Code of Conduct in force in Telangana, the gang, including AR constable Ballari Srikanth, posing as police officials conducted vehicle checks and made away with ₹18.50 lakh cash from a businessman in Punjagutta on Thursday night. Officials said that according to the businessman, the men showed up in a police patrol van clad in khaki uniforms.
Inspector of Panjagutta police, B. Durga Rao, said that Pradeep Sharma, 30, a private employee, was asked to deposit ₹20 lakh in the bank by an employee of Chimanlal Suresh Kumar Textiles Pvt Ltd. “On Thursday night, he collected the cash from Akshay, an employee of the textiles shop, and was heading towards Khairatabad from Banjara Hills in his car with his driver when he was stopped by two men dressed in khaki. The men showed up on a patrolling bike and within a few minutes, an SUV similar to the ones used by the police also stopped to intervene,” said the official.
