Habitual offender held, 8 kg ganja seized

Khammam: Police here on Monday arrested a man, who was involved in several cheating, smuggling of ganja cases and property offences at various places in the State, and seized 8 kg ganja, two cars and Rs 10 lakh from his possession. SP AV Ranganath presented the accused S Venakata Ramana (30) at a press meet here. The accused belonging to Bhavavaram village of Karapa mandal in East Godavari district began his crimes with bicycle thefts when he was studying Intermediate. He became addicted to vices and started cheating people to make quick money. He established contacts all over the State by using different names and false claims of owning properties. He would come to district headquarters and issue advertisements in newspapers for purchasing old cars. When a person approached him with an old car, he would pay the party Rs 5000 or Rs 10,000 as advance and request them for a test drive. Then, he escapes with the four wheeler and sell it for a higher price after changing registration number of the vehicle. He cheated six persons by following the same modus operandi in Khammam town recently. The Khammam Urban Police, who received complaints from the victims, formed special teams to nab the criminal. The police were conducting vehicle checks at Mamata Hospital Road at 11 pm on Sunday and caught the culprit, who was carrying a bag of ganja in one of the stolen vehicles. It was found in their investigation that the habitual offender was arrested in Hyderabad, Kakinada and other places for property offences previously. He was released from Kakinada Sub-Jail on bail in 2011 and was continuing his offences. A case was registered in this regard.