Two Men Arrested in Bidar Over Afzalgunj Travel Agency Shooting

Two men allegedly linked to the shooting incident at Roshan Travels in Afzalgunj nearly 18 months ago have been arrested by the Karnataka police in Bidar, providing investigators with a fresh lead in the case.

The suspects, identified as Manish Kushwaha and his associate Amit Kumar, were traced to Bidar before being taken into custody on Wednesday, August 12. Bidar police have begun questioning the duo in connection with criminal cases registered against them in Karnataka.

Following the arrests, Hyderabad’s Afzalgunj police are preparing to seek their custody through a production transit warrant. The warrant will allow local investigators to bring the suspects to Hyderabad and produce them before a court. According to the police, Amit Kumar and another suspect, Alok Kumar, are suspected to have participated in the firing incident at the travel agency in Afzalgunj.

The case traces back to an armed robbery in Karnataka on January 16, 2025, where the suspects were allegedly involved in the theft of ₹93 lakh during an ATM cash replenishment operation in Bidar. During the robbery, an ATM security guard named Giri Venkatesh was shot dead, while another security guard, Shivakumar, suffered injuries.

After carrying out the Bidar robbery, the suspects allegedly fled to Hyderabad and visited Roshan Travels in the Afzalgunj area to book travel tickets to Raipur. While at the office, travel agency employee Mohammed Jahangir grew suspicious after spotting bundles of cash in their luggage. When Jahangir questioned the men, one of the suspects allegedly opened fire, leaving him injured.

Officials stated that the arrests in Bidar are expected to help investigators reconstruct the timeline and movements of the suspects following the ATM heist, as well as definitively establish their roles in the Afzalgunj shooting.