CHENNAI: The city police have revealed that one of the two robbers, suspected to have committed the daring daylight road-side robbery at Thoraipakkam, was involved in at least two murder cases and several assault cases in Tuticorin district.
The two who indulged in the robbery were picked up from an undisclosed location and were being quizzed to recover the stolen jewels and to establish their roles in other crimes which they may have committed.
The video of a knife-wielding man, waylaying a lady teacher on December 20, captured on a mobile camera by a neighbour, went viral on social networking sites and mobile platforms.
The visual portrays the man extorting the woman to part with her gold chain, bangles and wrist watch, to which the victim complies with out of fear.
The robber, a stout man, was identified as Murugan aka ‘Neeravi’ Murugan (35) of Tuticorin, who was notorious for waylaying, assault and murder. He was involved in at least 15 cases in other districts, including Tuticorin.
The video shows Murugan threatening the teacher while hiding the knife for a brief time when a cyclist and a car pass by.
Murugan, who was caught on the video, was seen leaving after gaining the jewels on another bike on which his accomplice Hari aka Harikrishnan (38), also from Tuticorin, was waiting in order to flee from the spot.
Officials confirmed they have identified the robbers but refused to disclose further information.
Their victim Velam, a resident of MCN Nagar, Thoraipakkam, did not report it immediately to the police fearing the robbers would still be around. However, the incident was reported to the police control room by the neighbours.
The robbery took place around 2.30 pm and the victim was almost home when the robber-duo knocked her two-wheeler down with another two-wheeler they were riding. The pillion-rider Murugan helped her up and then pulled out a long knife he used to waylay the woman.
Probe teams had on Thursday enlarged pictures of the duo and shared them with special teams and the local police. The latter also distributed pamphlets carrying the images of the suspects.
Two images allegedly to be that of the suspects were published by various Twitter handles since December 3, including @Yahya_Roxstar.