Most of the alleged thieves are gas cutting workers, who dismantled the bus at a workshop near Martal in Nanded district of Maharashtra.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar today appreciated the Afzalgunj police for tracing a Metro Express bus of the Kushaiguda bus depot which was stolen from the Central Bus Station by two brothers, auto drivers, on the night of April 24.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, the Commissioner said that upon receipt of a complaint from Jaggari Venkatesham, a TSRTC driver, about the theft of the bus, special police teams plunged into action. The teams found that the bus was stolen by a criminal gang, and eventually located the place where the stolen bus was taken to with the help of a towing crane after it broke down en route near Bokar, 60 km from Nanded.
On reaching the spot, the police found the dismembered parts of the stolen RTC bus in tact. With the assistance of the local police, the city police nabbed nine persons responsible for disassembling the bus into pieces to sell as scrap, and recovered the dismantled parts. They also recovered an auto-rickshaw, a Honda Unicorn and Rs. 19,500 in cash from them.
The accused were identified as:
1. Syed Abed, an auto driver residing near Jamai Osmania railway station, Chilkalguda
2. his brother Syed Zehad, 24, also an auto driver
3. Mohammed Naweed, 21, scrap worker, of Hyderbagh, Dhegloor Naaka, Nanded district, Maharashtra
4. Farooq of Nanded (absconding)
5. Mohammed Zubair alias Sameer, 25, gas cutting worker of Degloor Naka, Nanded district
6. Mohammed Omer, 27
7. Syed Salman alias Arbaz, 22
8. Mohammed Shafiq, 23
9. Mohammed Kaleem Bagwan, 23
Most of the alleged thieves are gas cutting workers, who dismantled the bus at a workshop near Bharat Petrol Pump, Martal, Nanded district.
After interrogation, the accused, who admitted to their guilt, were produced before the court.
Anjani Kumar said that had the police not reached the spot in time, there wouldn't have been any traces of evidence of the stolen vehicle, and praised the work of the Afzalgunj police.