Hyderabad:
Police arrested eight members of a criminal gang involved in cases of extortion,murder and dacoity in different places in Andhra Pradesh and seized weapons from them.
With the arrests, made by sleuths of Commissioner's Task Force (West Zone), police foiled a murder plot, whichinvolved killing a youth in Khammam district, Police Commissioner A K Khan told reporters.
Veera Brahma Chary alias Ramesh, an inter-state criminal, was the gang leader. He has three cases pendingagainst him in Chandrapur in Maharashtra and one in Yadgir, Karnataka, Khan said.
Chary, wanted in 29 cases, had escaped from police custody four times. His latest escape was last month when hegave police the slip at Gajwel in Medak district, he said.
Acting on a tip-off, police apprehended the gang members at Secunderabad when they were preparing to commitdacoity, the Commissioner said.
Police recovered one-country made pistol, three live cartridges, three daggers, one Accent car, two motorcycles andeight cellphones from them, he said.
The gang members were hired by a person to kill a youth who had married a girl from different caste in Naredavillage of Khammam district. They had a Rs 5-lakh deal with the girl's father to execute the murder plan, Khan added.