The team took up a special drive on organised begging
The Hyderabad police have successfully busted a begging mafia racket, making a startling claim about the earnings of the kingpin. The crackdown was carried out by a special task force formed by the Commissioner (west zone) and it rescued 23 beggars, including eight children. The police deployed multiple teams at strategic locations to bust the begging racket.
In an attempt to control the menace of begging at busy traffic junctions, the team took up a special drive on organised begging. "The police arrested minor boys and one accused V Surya Prakash, an ex-photographer, who was collecting Rs 1,000 to 2,000 per day at Film Nagar Bus stops and nearby shopping areas from them," the police said in a statement. The amount adds up to a staggering Rs 2,00,000 a month. They were operating like an organised mafia.
The police seized three steel boxes, a smartphone connected with a Phone pay QR code and Rs 640 cash in the boxes. Prakash, meanwhile, was booked under the Prevention of begging act and handed over to SHO Film Nagar for further action. The police said the babies were fed toddy to make them unwell.
"Prakash's income was not sufficient and he hatched a plan and hired minor boys from nearby slums for organised Part Time Begging at Film Nagar Bus stop and nearby shopping areas," the police said.
Prakash used to hand over the steel boxes to the minor boys and also pasted QR codes on the boxes (which were linked to his account) for begging. The man used to hand over Rs 200 per day to them, they added.
Interrogations by task force personnel unveiled that the beggars were earning ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2000 every day. Prakash was said to be making as much as Rs 6000 a day.
The Hyderabad Police busted another begging gang. The Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force South-East Zone team, along with the Malakpet police, caught a begging mafia gang who were cheating and seeking money from people in the name of charity. The police arrested 10 people including three organisers and seven beggars. The police also seized two auto-rickshaws, Rs 1.38 lakh and some documents from them.
The police in a release said that the accused were cheating the public by begging in the name of the charity named "Amma Cheyutha Foundation". The police have booked a case under Section 419,420,384,341,290r/w 34 IPC.