One arrested; 27 bikes, ganja seized

Ongole: In a major breakthrough, the Prakasam district police arrested a 35-year-old habitual offender on Monday and recovered 27 stolen motorcycles worth approximately Rs 10 lakh. The accused was also found in possession of over 1 kg of ganja.

Ongole DSP R Srinivasa Rao explained at a press meet at I Town Police Station on Tuesday that on a tip-off, a team led by Ongole I-Town Circle Inspector Y Nagaraju conducted vehicle checks near the Venugopalaswamy Temple on the Mamidipalem-Bhagya Nagar road. The suspect, identified as Addeti Edukondalu, a resident of Padarthi village in Kothapatnam mandal, was intercepted while riding a stolen bike.

During interrogation, Edukondalu confessed to stealing motorcycles across various jurisdictions, including Ongole I & II Town, Maddipadu, Addanki, Vinukonda, Guntur, and Narasaraopet, to fund his vices. Police recovered 27 bikes based on his statement. Furthermore, 1.175 kgs of ganja, valued at Rs 12000, was seized in the presence of Tahsildar P Madhusudhana Rao.

Prakasam Superintendent of Police V Harshavardhan Raju commended the special team, supervised by DSP R Srinivasa Rao and CI Nagaraju. The SP noted that the accused has a prior criminal record in Ongole Taluka and Guntur. He lauded the personnel, including ASI K Suresh and HC M Sai, for using technical surveillance to crack the case. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody.