‘Till now he was Nageshwar Rao, now he has become Tiger!’ This dialogue from the Hindi trailer of the Telugu film ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ is the real gist of this film. In North India, people do not know much, but in the South, every child knows the name of Nageshwar Rao, just like the names of dacoits of Chambal were once infamous. Tiger Nageswara Rao has been a legend of his time. Such a clever thief who committed big thefts whenever he wanted, how he wanted and wherever he wanted, and whenever he got caught by the police. Ran away on some pretext or the other. He was so proud of his theft skills that to prove it, he even stole a personal item of the Prime Minister.
Tiger Nageswara Rao has been a well-known thief in Stuartpuram township of Andhra Pradesh. There were many serious cases registered against him. Tiger was brought up in Stuartpuram, which is known as the Village of Thieves. It is said that between the years 1911 and 1914, a plan was made to keep together thieves and dacoits who committed different types of crimes in different areas. And, the place was named Stuart Puram. In the year 1913, this village Stuartpuram was established in the name of Harold Stuart, a member of the then Madras Presidency. The aim of the government was that by keeping the thieves and dacoits at one place, it would be easier to keep an eye on them.
Nageshwar Rao was born in this village. Nageshwar, who was orphaned in his childhood, was brought up by troubles. Leaving school midway, he became a laborer to earn his living and soon turned to crime. In the year 1973, Nageswara Rao committed his first theft in a bank. He was successful in this theft. After this, Nageshwar Rao started committing many small thefts and gradually he lost the fear of the police. Despite committing major thefts in states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, he remained eluded by the police. This was the reason why people of the crime world started calling him Tiger. Whatever he stole, he distributed a major part of it among the poor.
In the year 1974, a major theft took place in a bank located in front of the police station in Banganpalli in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh, this news made headlines in the entire country. Nageshwar committed this theft of Rs 35 lakh at midnight. He faced the police many times, but every time he escaped. In the year 1976, Tiger Nageswara Rao was arrested in Tamil Nadu and kept in different jails. But during a hearing he attacked the jail officials and escaped.
Tiger Nageswara Rao was a notorious thief active in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the 1980s. More than 100 serious cases are registered against him. Nageshwar, notorious for his cunning, was captured again in the year 1984 and put in jail. After being in jail for two years, he managed to escape from jail in the year 1986. But in 1987 he was finally killed during a police encounter. It is said that just to show the specialty of his theft, he also stole the handkerchief of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The film ‘Tiger Nageshwar Rao’, releasing on October 20, is inspired by the story of this vicious thief.
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