CHENNAI: A seven-member gang that was robbing people on the road to buy drugs was busted by the police on Monday. The gang included four juveniles. Interestingly, the gang was busted after the police saw a TikTok video uploaded by one of the accused. Six phones, two bikes, and two sovereign gold chains were seized from them.
The chain of incidents was set off on Friday morning when an IT employee was attacked on the road. Rakesh Nair, a native of Kerala, was cycling back from his IT firm in Nungambakkam to his house in Choolaimedu when he was waylaid by four guys. They threatened him to hand over his cash and mobile. When Rakesh refused, they beat him up and fled from the spot with his phone.
Within 15 minutes, a chain and mobile phone were robbed from another person in T Nagar. “CCTV visuals confirmed that it was the same gang involved in both the incidents,” says Inspector S Balamurali. “The image of one of the gang members was clear, and we began inquiring about the young boys travelling in three two-wheelers.”
Soon, a special team was formed under Deputy Commissioner D Ashok Kumar. “While the team was trying to track the IMEI number of the robbed phone, one police personnel noticed a Tik Tok video uploaded by the guy whose face was clear on the CCTV footage. We found out his name was David,” says Balamurali.
David’s Facebook and Instagram ID were given on his Tik Tok profile. This information helped police locate his residence in Pulianthope. The police then matched the blurry images of his friends in the CCTV visuals with his TikTok and other social media images, and identified six others.
Meanwhile, IMEI numbers were tracked, which showed the gang had left for Yelagiri Hills. They were nabbed as soon as they returned to the city. U Abilash, 18, N David, 19, and C Akash, 21 were arrested and remanded in judicial custody while the four juveniles were sent to the Kellys Government Observatory. The police say the boys are school dropouts. They had a small fish business in the market. “The boys seem to have been addicted to marijuana. They have been robbing people for over a year now for easy money,” the police said. They are pretty famous on TikTok with lakhs of followers.