The Anakapalli district police arrested a three-member inter-district gang, who were allegedly involved in a series of bike and gold jewellery thefts in several districts. During the operation, police recovered stolen property worth approximately ₹66 lakh, which includes 450 grams of gold ornaments and 250 grams of silver. The accused were identified as R. Prakash, 24, E. Vinay Kumar, 28, and S. Vijay Kumar, 27.

Addressing a press conference at the district police office on Saturday, Superintendent of Police, Tuhin Sinha, said that following a house breaking case reported at Venkatapuram village under Munagapaka police station limits on May 2, the district police has formed special teams and began their probe into the case.

On Saturday, at around 8 a.m., Munagapaka SI P. Prasada Rao and a team based on a tip off, caught the accused at Lakshmipuram bus stop on NH-16 at the Anakapalli bypass road.

Mr. Sinha said that all three are habitual offenders with existing cases registered against them in various police stations. They confessed to their involvement in as many as nine cases not only in Munagapaka but also under the limits of Yelamanchili Town, Yelamanchili Rural, Rambilli, Anakapalli Rural, Sabbavaram, S. Kota in Vizianagaram district and Nadendla in Guntur district.

In the wake of increasing theft cases, the SP urged the public to utilise Locked House Monitoring System (LHMS), where residents are advised to inform their local police station or register through the LHMS app before leaving to the city for a prolonged time. This enables police to keep special surveillance on locked houses, he said.

Mounting praises on the police forces, the SP claimed that the property detection increased to 61.94% in 2025 from 48% in 2024, and that it currently stands at 66%. He said that as many as 4,835 new CCTV cameras installed in Anakapalli district in the last few years. The police are using different applications to detect 100% of the cases, he added.