Andhra Pradesh: 5 posing as cops held on theft charges

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Five persons of a gang who looted Rs 1.75 crore from a businessman by posing as task force officials were arrested here on Tuesday, said police.

The accused were identified as --Reddypalle Kishore, Nagaraju, Das, Harsha Bhavani Shankar and Amarchand. However, the main accused Ravindra is still absconding. So far police have recovered Rs 1.26 crore from them.

"We received a complaint from Hyderabad-based businessmen Abhinav Reddy that around Rs 1.75 crore cash belonging to him was robbed at the Two-Town police station. The robbers raided the businessman after posing as Combined Taks Force officials, stating that it was illegal to carry such amount of cash without income proof as it was the violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The five fled with the cash after beating him up," said City Police Commissioner Dwaraka Tirumala Rao.

As the entire money was unaccounted it is being suspected it was earned through illegal means. "The police are now suspecting that the money was a part of a hawala transaction for the elections as the entire money was unaccounted by Abhinav Reddy," Rao said.

The matter is now being investigated by the Enforcement Department and Income Tax Department for further investigation.