Taking advantage of a high alert by issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to enforcement agencies against movement of inducements like cash, liquor and gold to voters, a two-member gang masquerading as election officials robbed a 70-year-old man under the guise of conducting an ‘election check’, near Vijayaramarajupeta village in Anakapalli Lok Sabha constituency on Wednesday.
The victim, identified as A. Venkata Appa Rao, is reportedly the former sarpanch of Mangalapuram gram panchayat of Butchayyapeta mandal in Anakapalli district. Police registered a case after Mr. Appa Rao lodged a complaint.
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Narrating the incident, police said that Mr. Appa Rao was on his way to Chodavaram from his village on his two-wheeler on Wednesday morning. Two smartly-dressed men stopped him near Vijayaramarajupeta village on BN Road.
One of the duo, speaking in Hindi, told him that they were a flying squad of the ECI and wanted to check his vehicle for any “unauthorised items or inducements”. When Mr. Appa Rao opened the luggage compartment of his two-wheeler, the accused found ₹4,000 in cash stored in a plastic bag. The miscreants also noticed that Mr. Appa Rao was wearing a set of gold rings and a bracelet and chain.
The other miscreant, speaking in Telugu, reportedly cautioned Mr. Appa Rao that it would be risky to be wearing jewellery in public during election time, and advised him to keep the rings, chain and bracelet in the bag along with the cash.
Heeding their suggestion, Mr. Appa Rao removed his jewellery and placed it inside the plastic bag, or so he thought.
“The two men helped me secure my jewellery, and locked the boot and gave me the key. They even told me to have a safe trip,” Mr. Appa Rao said in his complaint to the police
As he continued on his journey towards Chodavaram, Mr. Appa Rao felt a nagging suspicion and wanted to assure himself that his jewellery and cash were safe. He opened his boot, only to find that his jewellery was missing from the bag. He immediately alerted nearby locals, who called 100 for police assistance.
Kotthakota Circle Inspector L. Appala Naidu said a case of cheating by impersonating election officials has been registered against unidentified individuals. The investigation is on, he said.
Such cases come under the ‘diversion of public attention’ category. We usually see such cases in Akividu. People should be wary of such crimes,” said Anakapalli Superintendent of Police K.V. Murali Krishna.
