The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Breakthrough in serial murder case in Ongole

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Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Breakthrough in serial murder case in Ongole

Special Correspondent

Gang which killed four lorry drivers, three cleaners busted; three persons arrested

– Photo: Sreenivas Kommuri

In the net: SP Naveen Chand with three members of the gang that waylaid iron-laden lorries and murdered the driver and cleaner of the lorries.

ONGOLE: In a sensational serial murder case, the police here on Monday, busted a gang that had allegedly hijacked four lorries, brutally murdered four drivers and three cleaners, dismantled the vehicles using gas cutters and sold the booty in scrap market.

The 20-member gang chose inter-State lorries, laden with iron, as their targets. They used to strangle the driver and cleaner to death and bury the bodies in 30 to 40 minutes, shift the load to an iron dealer, dismantle the vehicle and sell the parts in scrap market in Guntur. They committed four such crimes in Prakasam district and one in Nalgonda district in the last six months.

The police arrested three persons including the gang leader, Mohd. Abdul Samal alias Munna Bhai, taking shelter at Hunsoor, 30 km from Mysore, in the house of a Karnataka ex-MLA, posing himself as an ayurvedic doctor and expert on treasure troves and vaastu.

The police recovered a carbine weapon with 20 live catridges, a car and scrap material stored in a godown at Maddipadu near here. The police exhumed two bodies buried by the gang on the banks of Munneru rivulet near Ulavapadu.

They said five more bodies buried at Inamanamellur village on the banks of Gundlakamma would be exhumed on Tuesday.

Speaking to newspersons, Superintendent of Police V. Naveen Chand expressed dismay over the brutal manner the gang committed the murders. He said most of the gang members belonged to Ongole while three hailed from Warangal.

The police are probing the antecedents of Abdul Samal to ascertain whether he had connections with ISI or any terrorist group in the country, said Mr. Chand. In July, the gang had detained a vehicle, belonging to Chhattisgarh and carrying load to Chennai, at Ulavapadu.

They abandoned the vehicle at Chittoor for four days after committing the crime and shifted the scrap to Railway Kodur. Next, they detained a vehicle belonging to Nagaland at Thettu.

Suspecting trouble, the cleaner ran away. The gang killed the driver and abandoned the vehicle at Naidupet where a case was registered.

Fourth crime

However, it was the gang’s fourth crime that exposed them. A lorry belonging to Namakkal in Tamil Nadu was detained between Ongole and Tangutur. They buried the bodies of the driver and cleaner at Inamanamellur and left the engine at Zilla Parishad office here after dismantling the vehicle.

As the lorry did not reach Chennai even after three days, the owner came all the way here searching for it. He went to the taluk police station to lodge a complaint. But the police refused to register the case stating there was no evidence that the vehicle was lost in their limits.

The hapless owner went about searching for his lorry and found the cabin at Valluripalem, 6 km from here.

He also found the engine at the Zilla Parishad office. But the police still refused to register a case.

Frustrated

The frustrated owner finally met Mr. Naveen Chand, who pulled up the police officials and directed Tangutur police to register a case. He also formed a team to investigate the case. The team discovered that the gang had left the engine there because they knew Gangadhar, a Zilla Parishad office employee. Gangadhar, on questioning, revealed it was his friends -- Abdul Samal and his brother-in-law Riaz -- who left the engine there.

Then, the police arrested Riaz and Abdul Samal. Mr. Chand complimented Sub Inspectors Antony and Jayachandra and their team members for breaking the case in 15 days.

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