44 arrested, 15.2 kg gold ornaments recovered

Mancherial: Policehave successfully cracked the gold and cash theft case that occurred at SBI Branch 2 in Chennur, located in Mancherial district. Most of the stolen gold ornaments have been recovered. Ramagundam Commissioner of Police, Amber Kishore Jha, disclosed the details of the case during a press conference. On August 23, SBI Regional Manager Ritesh Kumar Gupta lodged a complaint at the Chennur Police Station regarding the theft. According to the complaint, gold ornaments pledged under 402 gold loan accounts—amounting to 25.17 kilograms and valued at Rs 12.61 crore—along with Rs 1.10 crore in cash, had been misappropriated.

Under the leadership of Commissioner Amber Kishore Jha and Mancherial DCP Aggadi Bhaskar, four special police teams were formed. These teams swiftly identified and apprehended the suspects involved in the case.

The investigating officer and special police teams inspected the bank and collected technical evidence. Upon auditing the account of cashier Narige Ravinder, they found several suspicious deposits. Ravinder, the prime accused, was taken into custody and interrogated. He confessed that prior to October 2024, he had lost Rs 40 lakh in online cricket betting. To recover his losses and continue betting, he conspired with Branch Manager Vennapureddy Manohar and outsourcing employee Lakkakula Sandeep.

The bank’s currency chest was jointly controlled by the manager and cashier. Manager Manohar handed over his key to Ravinder, which enabled the latter—along with the manager and outsourcing staff—to plan and execute the theft of gold and cash.

From October 2024 onwards, Ravinder regularly stole gold from the gold loan chest and handed it over to his friends: Kongondi Beeresh (Sales Manager, SBFC Mancherial), Kodati Rajashekhar (Customer Relations Manager, SBFC Mancherial), and Bolli Kishan (Sales Officer, SBFC Mancherial). These individuals pledged the stolen gold at private finance companies, deposited the money into their accounts, took a commission, and transferred the remaining amount to Ravinder.

Additionally, Ravinder, in collusion with the branch manager, sanctioned 42 fake gold loans in the names of his wife, brother-in-law, and friends—without any actual gold—and withdrew Rs 1.58 crore. Police investigations also revealed that Ravinder stole cash during ATM refill operations.

In this case, a total of 44 accused individuals were arrested, including cashier Narige Ravinder, Branch Manager Vennapureddy Manohar, and attendant Lakkakula Sandeep, along with 41 others who assisted them. Commissioner Amber Kishore Jha stated that 15.237 kilograms of gold ornaments and Rs.1,61,730 in cash were recovered.

For solving the case swiftly, Commissioner of Police (CP) Amber Kishore Jha extended his appreciation to the task force.