CHENNAI: Nine men were arrested by Shankar Nagar police on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating police personnel and robbing Rs 7 lakh from a businessman after abducting him near Chromepet several weeks ago.
Police identified the suspects as Rafiq (40), Arunkumar (40), Karmegam (38), Saddham (28), Imran (27), Sathish (29), Anthony Raj (36), Venugopal (27), and Yashwanth (33). Rafiq had previously worked for the victim, Azharuddhin (33), who is a medical wholesale distributor.
On May 22, while Azharuddhin was returning home on his bike, a gang waylaid him in a car and abducted him. “The gang members posed as policemen and were heard talking on a walkie-talkie. Claiming that they would arrest Azharuddhin for allegedly involving in sale of illegal drugs, the suspects handcuffed him and threatened him with a pistol,” a police source said.
They sought Rs 50 lakh from Azharuddhin to drop legal action, and upon learning that he had only Rs 9,000 on him, they took his debit cards. “In total, the gang withdrew Rs 7 lakh from the card in addition to the initial Rs 9,000. They then released him after threatening against alerting the police,” the source added.
However, the victim lodged a police complaint on June 1 as the gang again contacted him and sought more money. Following inquiry, the police arrested the nine men on Wednesday and confiscated a car, a card-swiping device, six mobile phones, a fake pistol, handcuffs, and a walkie-talkie from the accused.