CHENNAI: A five-member armed gang allegedly hijacked a private call taxi at knife-point near Perambur in the wee hours on Thursday. Police said K Arumugam, 38, of Guduvancherry owns a car and is a driver for a private call taxi company in the city.
“On Thursday morning, he picked up some customers from the Central railway station and dropped them at Perambur. Then, he parked the car at Perambur and took a nap at around 3 am. An hour later, five men who came in an auto-rickshaw knocked on the window and asked for directions to Villivakkam,” said a police source. “Arumugam got off the car and was directing them when one of them pulled out a knife and threatened him to hand over the keys. All the five men drove the car and left the auto behind,” added the source.
The ICF police have registered a case and with the help of CCTV footage, police nabbed S Gobinath, 21 and S Sayadhu Sikandar, 21 both from Vysarapadi and have launched a search for three others. “The car is equipped with GSP and we are tracking the location. Preliminary investigations revealed that the car is at Puducherry,” said the investigation officer. Police suspect the auto used for the robbery must also have been stolen.
Flashback
In October 2017, two men were arrested from Andhra Pradesh by the Pattabiram police for posing as customers and hijacking a car at knife-point. The men had booked the cab through an app