Two posing as Maoists held for Rs 50 lakh extortion bid in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Jeedimetla police on Wednesday, May 28, arrested two individuals for impersonating as Maoists and attempting to extort Rs 50 lakh from a Hyderabad-based businessman. A total of 13 country-made bombs were also seized.

On May 22, police received a complaint from Kuna Raghavender Goud saying his father, Ravinder Goud, informed him that the Tulsi plant in front of their house had been damaged. A letter and a red-coloured towel were found placed on their car.

Raghavender Goud returned home to inspect and found the letter in which the perpetrators identified themselves as Maoists and demanded Rs 50 lakhs. If he did not comply, they would kill him.

Following the complaint, police verified over 500 CCTV footage and rounded up two individuals. They arrested the suspects from HMT jungle in the morning hours of May 28.

Upon interrogation, the two suspects, Yerramsetty Raju, 33, and Kandurelli Raju, 24, confessed to the crime. They hail from Andhra Pradesh.

Yerramsetty Raju has a history of property offences against him registered at the Gannavaram police station.

He had come to Shapur Nagar and worked in a private company for some time. However, he was terminated from service three months ago. Facing financial difficulties, he, along with Kandurelli Raju, hatched a plan to extort money from a well-off resident of Shapur Nagar by impersonating Maoists.

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However, when they received no response from Raghavender Goud, the two men travelled to Vizianagaram to reportedly assemble an improvised explosive device (IED) to escalate their threats.

They returned to Hyderabad and planned to plant and detonate the bomb at the complainant’s residence on May 28, intending to create fear and force compliance.

However, the police were able to apprehend them in time and seized 13 country-made bombs from them.

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