Woman arrested in gold theft case
Vijayawada: The Vijayawada City Police under the NTR District Police Commissionerate solved a gold theft case within 24 hours and arrested a woman accused of stealing gold ornaments weighing 125 grams, valued at around Rs 18 lakh. The police also recovered the stolen property from the accused.
Addressing a press conference at the One Town Police Station in Vijayawada on Tuesday, West Zone Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) G Ramakrishna disclosed the details of the case.
According to the police, Kakarla Sushma, a resident of Hyderabad, along with her family, visited the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam atop Indrakeeladri on March 6 to participate in the three-day Maha Kumbhabhishekam celebrations.
After completing darshan through the queue line and exiting the temple premises via the Ravi Chettu route, she noticed that a plastic box containing 125 grams of gold ornaments kept in her handbag was missing.
She immediately lodged a complaint at the One Town Police Station, following which special police teams launched an investigation using technical surveillance and digital intelligence tools.
Within minutes of the incident, the police began verifying the movements of devotees exiting through the Ravi Chettu route. While analysing CCTV footage at scanning points near the New Rajagopuram, Sivalayam and the saree counter, officers noticed a suspicious woman who later left the area in an auto-rickshaw from Kanakadurga Nagar.
During the investigation, police analysed phone records and utilised Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and other digital tracking methods. Officials also examined UPI payment trails, which helped trace the movement of the suspect.
Based on the clues gathered, the police apprehended the accused on March 6 and recovered the stolen gold ornaments. The accused was identified as Kovelakonda Niraja (27). Police said she has been involved in several theft cases.
ADCP Ramakrishna said the accused has links to previous theft cases registered under Section 379 of the IPC at Maharani Peta, Gopalapatnam and Visakhapatnam One Town police stations.
The case was solved under the supervision of Vijayawada West Zone ACP NSVK Durga Rao, One Town Inspector B Gunaram, Crime SI K Raghunath, SI S Bhagya Sri and other staff. ADCP Ramakrishna said the swift detection was possible due to coordinated efforts, technical investigation and field intelligence.
