The Special Operation Team, Madhapur Zone and Raidurgam Police on Tuesday arrested a man for allegedly smuggling stolen smartphones. A total of 563 smartphones of various leading brands and ₹3 lakh cash were recovered from the accused, the police disclosed on Wednesday.
Hailing from Kadapa, the accused Garadi Ramanji, 54, was an RTC bus conductor in Falaknuma Depot for 10 years till 2005. He then dealt in real estate, suffered losses, and then took up smuggling stolen phones from various parts of Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad.
He was sent to jail in 2016 for similar offence, of illegal possession of stolen mobile devices, by Shameerpet police. And later in 2021, he was involved in a land trespass case in Abdullapurmet police.
According to the police, based on a tipoff, his SUV was searched during a vehicle check. Four polystyrene foam boxes and three other bags were found with the said cellphones.
Initial investigation, the police said, showed that Ramanji bought these stolen phones from three persons — Akash and Sunny of Akiveedu, and another Vamsi of Karnataka — for ₹2000 to ₹4000 each. He would smuggle the stock to Hyderabad to sell them to Asif and Arshad at a higher price.
Police estimated that the approximate value of the seized devices was ₹1.92 crore. An investigation was opened. Five other accused persons are yet to be arrested.
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