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The rare bonsai plant stolen from the residence of former Andhra Pradesh police chief V Appa Rao was recovered by the Hyderabad police on Friday. The police also arrested one person and are on the lookout for the second accused in the case.
The Jubilee Hills Police arrested 21-year-old Gollapudi Prasannanjaneyulu, a construction worker who, along with his friend Abhishek, stole the 15-year-old Casuarina Bonsai tree on January 10. Police said that Prasannanjaneyulu was unaware that he was stealing from the residence of a former Director-General of Police.
He had planned to sell the plant for Rs 5,000, and had no knowledge about the plant or its category but felt it was valuable, Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner of Police for West Zone AR Srinivas told mediapersons.
A case of theft was lodged at Jubilee Hills Police Station on a complaint by Appa Rao's wife V Sridevi. She stated in her complaint that the 15-year-old bonsai miniature tree was stolen on Sunday from the garden in their house, located on Road No 18, Jubilee Hills.
Sridevi informed police that she has a huge collection of valuable bonsai trees and a rare tree Saru (casuarina) which was kept in front of their south-east gate was found stolen.
She told the police that their gardener, Devender, noticed that the miniature tree was missing while watering the plants. Acting on her complaint, police had registered a case of theft and launched a probe.
According to Jubilee Hills Detective Inspector A Ramesh, the main accused, while roaming in Jubilee Hills, observed the bonsai plants several times in front of the residence of the retired IPS officer and decided to steal the bonsai plant placed in front of the main gate.
Both the accused came to the place on a motorbike and stole the bonsai plant, with a view to selling it to interested customers. Prasannanjaneyulu was caught by the policy after analysing the CCTV footage in the area.
Police have appealed to people to install CCTV cameras at each house and establishment to prevent offences, and also to detect the offences and for speedy recovery of stolen property as well.