Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 20 (ANI): Hyderabad City Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Saturday said police have busted a nine-member interstate gang allegedly involved in cattle theft and shutter-lifting burglaries at mobile shops, recovering around Rs 22 lakh in cash, three four-wheelers and 15 mobile phones.

Speaking to reporters, Sajjanar said the operation was conducted jointly by Hyderabad City Police and Khammam Police, leading to the arrest of the gang members involved in multiple cases across Telangana and other states.

“In a joint operation, we arrested a nine-member gang involved in cattle theft and the shutter-lifting of mobile shops. We have recovered about Rs 22 lakh in cash, three four-wheelers, and 15 mobile phones from this gang,” Sajjanar said.

He said the gang was initially involved in cattle theft and was later involved in mobile shop burglaries.

“This gang was initially involved in cattle theft and was implicated in about 13 cases. Later on, they graduated to committing mobile shop theft,” the Commissioner said.

Sajjanar said the key accused, Mohammad Tabrez, and Rafiq had extensive criminal backgrounds, with Tabrez facing around 37 cases, alongside 13 recent ones.

Police said the accused came in contact with Abu, alias Faisal, while in Chanchalguda Central Prison in connection with an NDPS case.

“In one of the cases, they met Abu alias Faisal, who was involved in an NDPS case, while in Chanchalguda prison. Later on, they tried to commit theft in Surat but could not do so because of a vehicle accident,” Sajjanar said.

Meanwhile, Sajjanar also spoke about the police department’s technology-based grievance redressal system and said Hyderabad Police have introduced a triage unit at police stations to record complaints in multiple languages.

“We have a triage unit where a petitioner who comes to the police station can explain what happened in their own words. It supports nine different languages, including Telugu, Urdu, Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi, and others. That statement is recorded immediately and sent to our reception constable, who gathers additional details from the petitioner. From there, it goes online and is sent to the SI Admin, who then marks it to the various officers for inquiries,” he said.

Earlier, the police said the operation was carried out under the supervision of senior officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police, Commissioner’s Task Force Gaikwad Vaibhav Raghunath, and with the participation of Jubilee Hills Zone Task Force officials along with Khammam Police. (ANI)