SEUNDERABAD: E Vishnu Vardhan Reddy assumed charge as the new regional passport officer

, Hyderabad, on Tuesday.

He spoke to the media after taking charge and said that the Hyderabad RPO would continue to better its record after achieving second position in the country in issuing passports. Passport services will be launched through head post offices in Telangana, he said.

The 2008 batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer hails from Warangal district. Ashwini Sattaru, the regional passport officer since 2014, was transferred to Delhi and is awaiting posting.

Here is how investigating agencies tracked the case: According to sources, the jeweller used fake names and fake addresses on the bills. A few bills, said sources, had Delhi's Kailash Colony, Greater Kailash and South Extension as customer addresses. The jewellery store had claimed that on the night of November 8 customers had bought gold worth Rs 100 crore, all in demonetised currency. A case was registered against the three directors of the famous jewellery store in the posh Banjara Hills locality. The directors are Kailash Chand Gupta, Nitin Gupta and Nikhil Gupta. While Kailash Chand has been arrested, the other two are absconding. The arrest was made after the Income Tax department approached CCS and lodged a complaint alleging fraud by the jeweller. Earlier, the Income Tax department had conducted raids on the jewellery store and recovered bills showing irregularities. All the bills showed purchases of under Rs 2 lakh. PAN number is not mandatory for jewellery purchase of less than Rs 2 lakh. The CCTV footage recovered from the jewellery store showed that the shutters were downed at 8 pm on November 8. The bank account where all the money was transferred had been frozen.

Hyderabad: 5 persons claiming to be CBI officials loot 40 kg gold from Muthoot Finance branch

All the five men were armed and escaped with gold ornaments worth Rs 10 crore.

Five persons, claiming to be CBI officials, looted 40 kg gold from a Muthoot Finance branch in Hyderabad.

The robbers reached the RC Puram branch of the gold financing company in a red Scorpio. All the five men were armed, with one of them dressed as a traffic police constable, said an eyewitness. They decamped with gold ornaments worth Rs 10 crore.

is how the robbery took place:

1. The men entered the branch as soon as it was opened on Wednesday morning, and spent nearly half an hour inside it.
2. According to the police, the robbers told the staff that they were Central Bureau of Investigation officials and wanted to check records and gold in the lockers as they were investigating a case of theft.
3. When the branch manager said he was not in a position to show the lockers without permission from top officials, the unidentified men threatened action against him for disobeying orders of CBI officials.
4. When the lockers were opened, the intruders started collecting the gold ornaments in their bags. As the employees raised alarm, one of the men whipped out a gun, threatened the branch manager and other employees and locked them in a bathroom.
5. Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya said they also looted Rs 1 lakh cash. The robbers also took away the hard disk of the CCTV cameras with them.
6. The Cyberabad Police has formed special teams to nab the robbers. Police in neighbouring Sangareddy district are also on the lookout for the robbers. The borders along both the districts have been sealed.

Hyderabad: Jewellery store director arrested for selling gold worth Rs 100 crore to fictitious customers

The store used fake names and fake addresses, like Delhi's South Extension and Greater Kailash, on the bills

Officers of the Central Crime Station (CCS) Hyderabad today arrested director of Musaddilal Jewellers Private Limited Kailash Chand Gupta for allegedly selling gold worth Rs 100 crore to fictitious customers.

Here is how investigating agencies tracked the case:

1. According to sources, the jeweller used fake names and fake addresses on the bills. A few bills, said sources, had Delhi's Kailash Colony, Greater Kailash and South Extension as customer addresses.
2. The jewellery store had claimed that on the night of November 8 customers had bought gold worth Rs 100 crore, all in demonetised currency.
3. A case was registered against the three directors of the famous jewellery store in the posh Banjara Hills locality. The directors are Kailash Chand Gupta, Nitin Gupta and Nikhil Gupta. While Kailash Chand has been arrested, the other two are absconding.
4. The arrest was made after the Income Tax department approached CCS and lodged a complaint alleging fraud by the jeweller.
5. Earlier, the Income Tax department had conducted raids on the jewellery store and recovered bills showing irregularities. All the bills showed purchases of under Rs 2 lakh. PAN number is not mandatory for jewellery purchase of less than Rs 2 lakh.
6. The CCTV footage recovered from the jewellery store showed that the shutters were downed at 8 pm on November 8. The bank account where all the money was transferred had been frozen.

KT Rama Rao turns salesman for weavers in state

HYDERABAD: It was marketing with a difference, both in terms of the target audience and the location. Amidst the official proceedings in the Telangana assembly on Tuesday, industries minister KT Rama Rao hit upon a novel method of marketing the products made by the Telangana State Cooperative Society of Handloom Weavers (TSCO), a subject that falls under him.

Even as the legislators took a break and relaxed in their chambers, KTR went around and distributed packets containing handloom products including clothes to them. "TSCO is launching a scheme from next week by which those who pay 1,000 every month for 10 months will be eligible to buy handloom products worth 14,000," the industries minister said while gifting the items to assembly opposition leader K Jana Reddy and council opposition leader Mohd Shabbir Ali. After receiving the gift of handloom products, ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao and G Jagadish Reddy announced that they will join the scheme immediately. "I have requested all government departments and staff to wear handloom textiles at least one day in a week. Similarly, I have requested all ministers, MLAs, MPs and MLCs to tell their staff to wear handloom clothes so that the livelihood of the weavers will improve. The products can also be bought online. I will myself set an example by wearing handloom clothes once a week," KT Rama Rao told TOI.

But it is not just as industries minister that KTR is promoting handloom products. As a ruling party legislator, he happens to represent Sircilla assembly constituency in Karimnagar, which is predominantly a weavers bastion housing at least 36,000 powerlooms and over 50,000 weavers who appear to have voted for the TRS in the previous elections.

Ever since, he come to politics, KTR has been nurturing the constituency with utmost care. As powerloom weavers in Sircilla are a distressed lot with the demand for handloom products dwindling, the local MLA has decided to take on the issue head-on.

Hyderabad news

Begum Bazaar turns into garbage dump, residents cry foul

CHARMINAR: Civic authoritieshave turned a blind eye to dumping of garbage at Begum Bazar. It is creating a menace for residents as well as shop-owners.

Shop-owners complained about their loss in business due to the foul smell emanating from the dump. The lane is crowded most of the times and the dump worsens the condition by creating traffic menace, witnesses said.

While customers are avoiding the road and opting for shops located in other lanes, the staffers are facing a lot of trouble due to the rancid smell, said Manoharan N, an employee at a jewellery shop.

TSRTC to introduce mini buses: Transport minister

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) will introduce mini buses in the city, transport minister P Mahender Reddy said. RTC would purchase 1436 new buses at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

The minister said efforts were being made to commercially exploit RTC land under build operate and transfer basis to bail out the corporation from losses. "While RTC is getting Rs 9.50 crore as revenue per day, the expenditure comes to about Rs 11.50 crore, leaving the corporation with a loss of Rs 2 crore," the minister said. Mahbubnagar MLA V Srinivas Goud said many private operators were illegally operating buses in the state. He also said a private bus operator from Telangana was attacked in Anantapur and his bus was also seized by transport department officials of AP.