The city crime branch, in a joint operation with the special task-force of Cyberabad police, arrested the main accused and his wife in one of the biggest heists of the country, when a gang of six posed as CBI officers and robbed a Muthoot Finance Ltd Office of gold in Hyderabad last December.
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The task-force and crime branch (unit 5) on Sunday arrested Sunder Rajaratnam Kangalla and his wife Radha Kangalla from a hideout in Dharavi.
A task-force officer said they had been trailing Sunder for two months but he kept shifting places until recently they got a tipoff that Sunder had taken a flat in an SRA building in Dharavi. The task-force and crime branch swooped down giving no chance to Sunder to escape. "We sent some women cops from behind, posing as social workers come for a survey. When the door opened, we barged in and arrested Sunder," said an officer. During questioning, Sunder told police his wife was staying in another rented flat in Chunnabhatti. Police then arrested Radha too.
Police recovered around 2.25 kg gold bars from the accused, which is part of the stolen booty of 41 kg. Police said the couple along with some other family members had been holidaying for three months in Mangalore, Bengaluru, Kerala and finally Goa. "Sunder had been spending lavishly on their holiday and took care not to use mobile phone randomly. After every call, he would switch off the phone, that is why it took so long to track them."
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While fleeing the site, the gang had taken away CCTV footage. But Cyberabad police got a clue from footage of Sangareddy junction and in January learnt the pilot bike belonged to a habitual thief, Vijay Kumar, from Gulbarga. Based on his crime history, police gathered more clues and arrested gang members Lakshman Narayan Mudhang, Ganesh Pandurang Bhonsle alias Patil, Subhash Pujari Pandey, Sunder Rajaratnam Kangalla, Kaala alias Lambu and Thukaram Gaikwad. Police recovered 3.5 kg gold ornaments as most accused had taken their shares and sold it to jewellers.
During interrogation, the accused spoke about the conspiracy hatched by Sunder from Mumbai. "Sunder wanted to contest the civic elections from Dharavi and hence needed funds. He hatched the conspiracy with jail mates and carried out the robbery. Almost all accused are history-sheeters and have met in jails," added an officer from Mumbai.
Sunder has 12 offences of robberies and theft and has been convicted of two robberies to eight years' rigorous imprisonment by the sessions court. But he got bail from the Bombay high court last November.
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Sources said he is a former associate of gangster Chhota Rajan's aide D K Rao alias Mallappa, also a dreaded gangster. Police said after the heist, the accused went at Ganesh Patil's house in Nashik, where they summoned a jeweller, Kumar Shah, from Mumbai and melted the gold into 36 bars and distributed it among themselves.
Police later arrested Shah for aiding and abetting the accused. Police said Sunder and Lakshman took 17 kg with them. Police had recovered 4 kg from Madhung's house in Dharavi in February.