Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh: In a major breakthrough, Bapatla district police, under the leadership of SP Tushar Dudi, arrested a three-member interstate motorcycle theft gang and recovered 36 stolen two-wheelers valued at approximately Rs25 lakh.
The gang had been operating across several districts—Bapatla, Guntur, Nellore, Prakasam, Kurnool, Krishna, and even parts of Telangana. In total, 17 cases were registered against them.
Commending the swift response, SP Tushar Dudi applauded the Repalle Sub-Division police team for their effective investigation. The arrests were announced at a press briefing held at Bhattiprolu Police Station on Thursday.
Repalle DSP Avula Srinivasarao shared that the breakthrough came after a recent motorcycle theft complaint. Acting on SP Dudi’s directive to prioritize such cases, special teams were formed. The operation involved Vemuru CI Pasupaleti Veeranjaneyulu, Repalle Rural CI Suresh Babu, and SIs Shivayya (Bhattiprolu) and Anil Kumar (Cherukupalli).
Using CCTV footage and technical surveillance, the police apprehended the accused on Wednesday. The gang members were identified as Putta Sivasankar of Tenali, Peta Nagababu from Kanagala (Cherukupalli mandal), and Deepala Teja Venkata Siva Naga Vijay Kumar from Ailavaram (Bhattiprolu mandal).
DSP Srinivasarao revealed that the trio had stolen bikes from:
Bapatla (5)
Guntur (4)
Nellore (5)
Prakasam (6)
Krishna (10)
Kurnool (1)
East Godavari (2)
Telangana (3)
The ringleader, Sivasankar, was an auto driver with a history of bad habits. To fund his lifestyle, he began stealing motorcycles parked at railway stations, bus stands, and movie theatres using duplicate keys. His partners, Nagababu and Vijay Kumar, assisted by concealing the stolen vehicles.
SP Tushar Dudi praised the excellent teamwork and use of technical intelligence by the Repalle DSP and police personnel in successfully cracking the case and recovering the stolen bikes.
