Hyderabad: A notorious serial property offender wanted in dozens of burglary cases across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was shot in the leg by the Nalgonda police after he allegedly attacked a police team attempting to arrest him near the Outer Ring Road (ORR) late on Tuesday night.The accused, Bhusmi Srikanth alias Ammiraju (35), sustained a bullet injury to his left thigh during the encounter near Bonguluru Gate on the ORR and was shifted to a hospital. A head constable was also injured in the incident.According to Nalgonda SP Sharat Chandra Pawar, Srikanth, a native of Narsipatnam in Andhra Pradesh, has a long criminal record, with 26 previous cases, including burglaries and a murder, registered against him in the two Telugu states. After his release from prison about five years ago, he allegedly committed more than 40 burglaries.Police said Srikanth’s fingerprints were found at the scenes of 10 burglary cases—seven in Andhra Pradesh and three in Nalgonda district. His involvement in seven burglary cases in Nalgonda was established through CCTV footage and fingerprint evidence, prompting the formation of three special teams a month ago to track him down.The teams later received information that Srikanth was travelling towards Hyderabad from the Nagarjuna Sagar side of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday night and began tracking his movements, Pawar said.Police intercepted the DCM van in which Srikanth was travelling at around 11.45 pm near Bonguluru Gate. However, he allegedly jumped out of the vehicle and attacked the police team.“He tried to escape by attacking the police personnel with a knife and an iron rod. Head constable Vishnuvardhan Giri sustained a blunt-force injury to his head after being struck with the iron rod. Acting in self-defence, our team first fired three warning shots into the air and asked Srikanth to surrender. As he continued the assault, the team fired one round at his leg and took him into custody,” the SP said.Police said both Srikanth and the injured head constable were out of danger.Meanwhile, Miryalaguda Rural police arrested V Atendra (21), the driver of the DCM van, for allegedly helping Srikanth in a 2024 burglary case.Adibatla police also registered a separate case against Srikanth under Sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 121 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from discharging duty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He will be formally arrested in that case after the completion of the Nalgonda police investigation.
