Sri Sathya Sai District Police Bust Interstate Highway Dacoit Gang
ANANTAPUR: Sri Sathya Sai district police cracked two sensational cases of highway priests on National Highway 44, busting an organized interstate gang involved in kidnapping, robbery and cash loot.
The first dacoity occurred in the early hours of December 3, 2025, within the limits of KIA police station. Unidentified assailants stopped a moving vehicle, broke its windows, kidnapped two people along with the vehicle and stole ₹2.8 million. The attackers then left the victims in different places.
The second case was reported on February 21, 2026, near Mamillapalli village within the limits of Kanaganapalli police station. Around eight masked people stopped a vehicle carrying ₹3 crore. They overpowered those inside, kidnapped them, and escaped with all the money.
Satya Sai district police spoke to the media after investigating and solving these two cases. According to police, the gang used vehicles with fake license plates to block targets on highways. They broke vehicle windows, seized mobile phones to block distress calls, kidnapped victims and then dumped them in isolated areas. While passing through toll plazas with the loot, the gang members made payments in cash to avoid FASTag tracking.
Police analyzed CCTV footage in a 200 km area from Kurnool to Bengaluru and Salem. Technical analysis of call data records, IPDR and IMEI details revealed that the accused was using fake SIM cards procured from Kerala and communicating through VoIP services.
Investigations showed that the gang was staying at hostels in Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu for advance planning and reconnaissance. The gang consists of 21 members operating in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Police said the mastermind behind the coordinated operations was from Nepal.
Police have so far arrested 10 of the 21 accused, including key accused Cyril Mathew. Efforts to track down the remaining 11 people are ongoing. The arrests took place near Aghora Ashram on the Bengaluru-Gorantla highway.
Investigators seized Rs 1.26 million in cash, vehicles including three SUVs, 13 mobile phones, fake number plates, knives and pepper spray bottles from the accused.
Ten special teams have been formed under the supervision of the district SP to investigate and arrest the dacoits.
