Treasure hunt tricksters’ gang held

Guntakal (Anantapur): Police nabbed a four-member gang, which was hoodwinking the people, in the name of retrieving the hidden treasure. Many people have fallen prey to the gang in the hope to become rich with hidden treasure. According to Guntakal DSP Ch Ravi Kumar, police apprehended the gang comprising Madhuri and three others and seized Rs 10 lakh worth 10 kg silver idols and gold ornaments.

The prime accused, Lavanya Madhuri, who hails from Bank Colony in Guntakal town, formed a gang along with Sivaiah of Dampeta village in Battalapally mandal, Vadde Ramesh and Guruswamy of Guntakal mandal.

The modus operandi of the gang is to induce the gullible people saying that they would retrieve the hidden treasure, of course, for a price. The CI said that Venkatesh of Nalla Dasaripalle village in Guntakal mandal, Rajgopal belonging to Venkatampally, Bhulakshmi of Kasapuram and Lakshminarayana belonging to Guntakal were cheated by the gang.

“We started investigation into the activities of this gang basing on a complaint lodged by the victims. On a tip-off, police raided the premises in old Guntakal area and took the gang members into their custody and on interrogation they spilled the beans.

The DSP disclosed that Madhuri in the guise of running a tailoring shop was operating the gang. She took many people for a ride in the name of retrieving hidden treasure and earned lakhs of rupees, he said.