Branch manager, her friend among four held for gold theft in finance co. at Kankipadu

Police unravel mystery of gold theft in Manappuram Finance Co. branch; arrest branch manager, her friend & two others. Recovered 10 kg gold, cash, car & 8 cell phones. Inquiry underway to determine if other employees involved.

The Krishna district police unravelled the mystery behind the gold theft that occurred in the Manappuram Finance company’s Kankipadu branch, near here, on October 16.

They arrested the branch manager Reddy Venkata Pavani, her friend Revu Durga Prasad, his brother K. Naga Babu and house keeping worker M. Prasanthi, all natives of Krishna district, in the case.

Superintendent of Police Palle Joshua told the media here on Friday that Durga Prasad, who runs a junior college at Kruthivennu in Krishna district, befriended Pavani, a widow, as a customer one year ago. Since January this year, she gave gold ornaments and cash in five instalments, about ₹45 lakh, to Durga Prasad, though he did not mortgage any gold, by tampering the records.

He mortgaged the ornaments in different banks, including two Manappuram branches in Vijayawada and Machilipatnam, and borrowed ₹74 lakh.

Durga Prasad later hatched a plan to steal gold from the branch, along with Pavani.

On October 16, Pavani opened the office after the working hours with the key available with her, took gold ornaments weighing about 10 kg and packed them in a bag with the help of Prasanthi. Later, Durga Prasad and Pavani escaped in a car. Durga Prasad’s brother, Naga Babu, helped them in escaping from the place, the SP said.