Hyderabad/ Mysuru: Three gold merchants from Mysuru, who had been to Hyderabad to purchase gold, were robbed of Rs. 1.26 crore by a three-member gang at Basheerbagh there.

The incident occurred on Saturday night (Nov. 25) and it came to light yesterday after a complaint was lodged in this regard at Narayanaguda Police Station in Hyderabad.

Latest reports say that the Police have managed to arrest five persons, based on CCTV footages.

According to the Police in Hyderabad, Sanketh, Swapnil and Sangappa, employees of a Mysuru-based gold manufacturing unit owned by one M.H. Rajendra and Sachin had come to Hyderabad on Saturday afternoon with Rs. 1.26 crore cash. “Rajendra and Sachin gave cash to their employees asking them to purchase gold from bullion merchants in the city. After reaching Hyderabad, the trio first went to their friend Raju’s flat at Skyline Apartments in Basheerbagh and then visited different gold shops,” Narayanaguda Inspector B. Ravinder said.

As the trio did not like the price quoted by gold merchants and also since the gold prices fell, they decided not to buy gold and instead chose to return to Mysuru as per their employers’ instructions.

However, they later decided to stay back in Hyderabad for a day and travel the next day.

They then came back to their friend Raju’s apartment, located behind Hyderabad City Police Commissionerate, at around 10 pm.

As they entered the lift, three others joined them and stopped the lift on the first floor and assaulted Sanketh, Swapnil and Sangappa. The assaulters later fled in a Honda Activa with the cash bag that had Rs. 1.26 crore, the Inspector said.

The victims immediately alerted their employer Rajendra, who reached Hyderabad yesterday and lodged a complaint with Narayanaguda Police.

Registering a case of robbery, Police accessed CCTV footages from nearby buildings and began analysing the way the robbery took place. The Police were looking to ascertain how the robbers knew that the trio were carrying cash on them.

Based on this line of investigation, the Hyderabad Police have arrested five persons in connection with the daring robbery.

One of the arrested has been identified as Srihari, the owner of a bakery in front of Skyline Apartments where the  trio had spent a night.

Sources say one among the arrested is the son of a Telugu Desam Party leader. His name, however, has not been revealed by the Police.

The stolen cash bag has been recovered and further investigations are on.