Three youths were arrested and 54 gm of gold ornaments, seven kg silver articles, and some other stolen valuables were recovered from them by the city police on Thursday.
Disclosing the details to the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) T. Ravi Kumar Murthy said that the accused were involved in 27 burglaries in the city, Vizianagaram, and Srikakulam districts. They were identified as B. Santosh (29) of Durg district in Chhattisgarh, K. Venkatesh (28) of Amudalavalasa in Srikakulam district, and R. Appala Raju (23) of Pandimetta area of the city.
Santosh and Venkatesh were arrested by the Vizianagaram police and had served a prison term as undertrials. After release on bail in May this year, they fled to Chhattisgarh. They subsequently came to the city and took shelter at the house of Appala Raju.
Locked houses were the target of the gang. They carry improvised implements to break open the locks of the main doors and the almyrahs. The trio robbed six houses and had planned to rob some more before they were caught at the railway station here in the early hours of Thursday.
In all, 80 gm of gold ornaments, 12 kg silver, five cameras, 12 wrist watches, two mobile phones, and Rs.1.6 lakh cash were stolen.