Second accused in Hyderabad gold heist also gives up

The second accused in the nearly Rs.6 crore gold heist from a leading jewellery showroom here also surfaced at the office a news channel here before he was arrested by police.

Main accused G. Anand Wednesday approached NTV, a Telugu news channel, two days after his cousin brother B. Kiran Kumar surfaced dramatically in the office of TV9.

Anand and Kiran, both masons by profession, stole gold ornaments and precious stones worth Rs.5.97 crore from Tanishq showroom in Punjagutta on Jan 24-25 night by drilling a hole in the rear wall of the shop.

Both the accused gave interviews to channels on how and why they committed the sensational crime before the channel teams took them to police.

On a day when a city court sent Kiran to judicial custody for 14 days, Anand approached the local channel.

Deputy Commissioner of Police V. Satyanarayna later produced 24-year-old Anand before the media.

Anand, who entered the showroom through the hole and stole the ornaments, told police that he needed money to operate his polio-affected leg while Kiran wanted to undergo pilot training.

Police recovered gold ornaments weighing about 720 grams from Anand. Almost the entire stolen gold and stones were recovered from their room in Rasoolpura neighbourhood Monday after Kiran's surrender.

The police official said they panicked and decided to surrender after finding it difficult to dispose off even a small quantity of gold.

Except two bangles and two rings, police have recovered the entire 15.57 kg gold ornaments.