Special court to try criminal gang

GUNTUR: A special court will be set up in the district on July 1 to a try a criminal gang involved in several offences. The state government has issued an order for setting up of the special court.For the first time, a special court is being set up in the district to try a criminal gang. The gang comprising Ekaluri Sivakrishna, Pathan Ravi, Akkinapalli Muralikrishna, Gajjenaboina Nageswara Rao, Gamalapati Ramakrishna, Mallela Narendra, Dheerangula Sankar and Pappula Amara Nageswara Rao of Dachepalli, was involved in 11 murder cases and 24 thefts. The cases against the gang have been pending in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nalgonda and Hyderabad districts.The modus operandi of the gang was to lure people waiting at bus stops in the name of giving lift. Later, the victims would be forcibly taken to an isolated place. After extorting cash and valuables from the victims at knife point, the gang would kill them. In this way, the gang committed 11 murders. They used to deface the face of the victims to make it difficult for police to establish their identity.The gang also withdrew money from ATMs using the bank cards snatched from the victims. The police nabbed the gang members with the help of their pictures captured by CC cameras in ATMs.All the cases pending against the gang in different courts will be transferred to the special court.