2 brothers held for thefts

HYDERABAD: Two brothers from Bangalore, A Ravi Kumar Reddy alias Srinivas Naidu (31) and A Chandra Kumar Reddy alias Rushikesh Reddy (27) who were involved in 12 cases of cheating and theft in the city were arrested on Friday.Police said the duo along with their associate, Ramesh Naidu, used to target rich people who seeking marriage alliances for their sons.“They contacted their targets by creating false e-mail IDs. In the mail, the duo attached photograph of beautiful girls collected from Facebook,’’ city police commissioner AK Khan said.The duo then gave advertisements in newspapers in matrimonial columns and contacted parents of bridegrooms and introduce themselves as guardian or mediator of the bride.“They make the boy’s family come to a selected place, provide conveyance to take them to a resort or apartment,” Khan said.“After initial talks, the accused offered them food and fruit juices mixed with restyl tablets. When the victims become intoxicated, the duo stole gold ornaments, watches and other valuables and fled,’’ police said.In fact, the resort or service apartment is booked using the Just Dial service over telephone.The duo invited their targets to places like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Mangalore, Pondicherry, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad.Similarly, the duo along with their associate, P Ram Babu booked new cars through a travel agency for visiting various tourist spots in the country.“Mid-way, they book lodges for night halt and offer the driver soft drink mixed with Restyl tablets and flee with the cars. They change the number plate and create false documents using fabricated RTA stamps and forged signatures.These stolen vehicles are later used for their travel business,’’ Khan said.The arrested persons kidnapped a boy, Sandeep at Chennur village of Kadapa in 2003 and threatened Boduppalfor sarpanch for ransom.One kg gold ornaments and four cars, land documents worth Rs 10 lakh purchased in the name of Chandra Kumar Reddy were also seized form them.