Cops Bust Nepali Gang for 5 cr Burglary; arrested

The police arrested nine Nepali nationals for allegedly burgling a businessman’s apartment in Balajinagar on PG Road in Secunderabad on July 9, making off with cash and jewellery worth 5 crore.

The main accused was identified as Shankar Maan Singh Saud, a security guard who was employed by the businessman, Rahul Goel, for the past six years. He roped in his associates and they made off with the loot when Goel and his family were away at their Moinabad farmhouse.

The police, upon receiving a complaint, tracked the location of the accused and intercepted them at the India-Nepal border. Net cash of 41,60,410, diamonds, gold items weighing about 2.8 kilograms and other articles, including foreign currency worth 5 crore. 18 expensive wristwatches, 10 mobile phones and silver weighing 9.56 kgs, were recovered from their possession.

"On July 13, Maan Singh, his wife Parvati and their associate Sunil Chowdry were picked up by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) posted at the Barshola Check Post," city police commissioner C.V. Anand said in a press meet on Wednesday, adding that the city police took them into custody on July 14.

Anand said that the driver of the car Vinod who was not involved in burglary was served a notice , the accused were travelling in  Vinod Kumar, was a friend of the trio and who was aware that they were on the run after committing a burglary. Vinod Kumar was not involved in the crime,  hence served with a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC.

Upon arresting them, the police recorded their statements and recovered the stolen diamonds, gold and silver items from them. They also seized an Innova car, bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration.

Explaining the sequence of events immediately after the burglary, the police said that on July 11, the accused, identified as Jhansi, Mohan Saud, Vishal Saud, his wife Pooja Saud, Vikas Saud, Brijesh, his wife Barshanath and Barati Saud, and the trio met at a dhaba in the city to have dinner and divide the stolen goods among themselves.

While the accused were in a hurry to flee and were boarding a bus, Mohan Saud had a fall and suffered a



fracture to his right leg. Mohan Saud suffered from diabetes and was also battling an infection, the police said.

"The health of Mohan Saud was deteriorating and could not go further. As such, the team decided on shifting Mohan Saud to Hyderabad for better treatment. Accordingly, Mohan Saud and his team returned to the city and took shelter in the house of another accused, Lal Singh Thappa alias Bahadur Thappa, at Prakash Nagar of Begumpet," Anand said.

Mohan Saud used some of the stolen cash for his treatment, at a renowned hospital in Secunderabad, and gave the rest to Vishal and Vikas for safekeeping.

Anand said that upon coming to know about the accused through their tower location, the investigation officers (IO) ascertained that Brijesh was using a new SIM.

The police teams verified the call logs between 6 pm and 7 pm on July 9 and found that Vikas was in constant contact with Mohan Saud.

"Based on tower locations, the teams proceeded to the house of Lal Singh at Prakash Nagar and apprehended Lal Singh Thappa, Vishal Saud, Vikas Saud, Brijesh and Barshanath," Anand said.  

The police said that the accused confessed to having committed the burglary, upon being arrested. Bharath, a professional lockpicker, another accused is on the run along with Pooja Saud and Barati Saud, the police said.

Anand thanked north zone DCP Chandana Deepti, and his Rachakonda counterpart, D.S. Chauhan, for alerting and coordinating with the DIG and IG of SSB that led to the arrests.  

The victim, Rahul Goel, also thanked the police for recovering his stolen property.

"This is the first time that stolen booty has been recovered from the Nepali gang. Earlier, six cases of property offences were reported where the Nepalese nationals were accused and police were not able to recover the property as the accused had passed the border and entered into Nepal. As per the international rules between India and Nepal, Indian agencies cannot detain or arrest the accused on extradition," Anand said.