CHENNAI : Twenty four days after a horse race bookie Harish Kumar was robbed by a gang, the Chennai police have solved the case by arresting eight suspects, including two masterminds.On July 24, Harish Kumar, a resident of Nandambakkam, was travelling in his BMW car with his father Shyam Sundar and uncle Rajendra Kumar from the Guindy Race Course, after collecting money from betting, When the car was about to reach near Butt Road, the gang waiting near the petrol bunk blocked the car and held the men at knife-point and escaped with the bag.
“The suspects were traced with the help of the CCTV footage recorded at a nearby residence and the petrol bunk. The video clips circulated in all social media sites generated the attention of the people. Based on the complaint of Harish Kumar, the St Thomas Mount police registered a case and launched a hunt for the suspects,” said a police officer.
A team, led by the St Thomas Mount Assistant Commissioner of Police P Mohandoss and Palavanthangal Inspector G Venkatesan, zeroed in on the suspects and nabbed them. The arrested were identified as E Rathnam (23), K Jagadeeswaran (23), R Abinesh (23), K Dellibabu (23), D Prakash (23) and K Saravanan (26) all from Vyasarpadi.
Among the arrested were two masterminds identified as R Leo (27), a resident of Thiruvottiyur and S Lawrence (27) of Anna Nagar. The duo had studied together at an ITI institute in Egmore. “Preliminary inquiries revealed that Leo, who often visits the Guindy Race Course for betting on horses, noticed bookie Harish Kumar taking the collection money in his car after the race. Leo told this to his friend Lawrence and the duo devised a plan to steal the cash.Lawrence informed his friends in Vyasarpadi and engaged six people, all autorickshaw drivers, to assist them,” said the police officer.