A special team of the P.M. Palem police led by SHO Tirupathi Rao arrested three persons of a gang on the charge of committing 14 property offences here on Wednesday. The accused are Kosanu Siva Ganesh (25), a resident of Vizianagaram, Thamarapu Raju (24) of Madhurwada, and Pilaka Srinu alias Deepali (24) of Kommadi. The accused were allegedly involved in 12 burglary, one chain snatching, and one theft cases.

In all, they had stolen 690 gm of gold and a large number of sarees. The police had recovered 500 gm of gold and Rs. 4,000 in cash from them.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) S. Varada Raju said that members of the gang committed offences in Arilova, Anandapuram, Bheemunipatnam, and Padmanabham. Based on a tip-off from Joshua of Hyderabad, who was caught recently by the Pendurthi police, the special team zeroed in on the accused and nabbed them near the ACA-VDCA Stadium.

The ADCP said the accused were habitual offenders and had served a sentence earlier.

Ganesh was allegedly involved in four chain snatchings, one burglary, and one motorcycle theft; Raju in one robbery and one dacoity; and Srinu in one house breaking incident.

Mr. Varada Raju said that two of the accused were reported to be homosexual partners and claimed to have got married in the Central Jail in Visakhapatnam.

“This is one reason why the stolen booty included sarees, ladies wear, and cosmetics,” he told the media.

The accused are habitual offenders and served a sentence earlier, says ADCP (crime) Varada Raju