COIMBATORE: The district police arrested four persons on Monday who intercepted a lorry and robbed Rs 11 lakhs from the driver, on April 20.
Police said the four suspects - M Mahendra Prabhu (32), M Sathish Kumar (28), K Vijayaraghavan (28) and P Sathish (28), all from Theni district, were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Monday.
The four had intercepted a lorry driven by K Baskar (60) from Gudalur, who had delivered a consignment of pepper to a buyer in Theni, and had received Rs 11 lakh in cash for the same.
While nearing the Pogalur Pump House near Annur, the four suspects are alleged to have stopped the lorry. They assaulted driver Baskar, tied him up, and bundled him into a vehicle in which the four had followed the lorry. They then stole cash of Rs 11 lakh from the lorry, before abandoning Baskar near Avinashi.
Annur police registered a case and began investigations. Coimbatore District SP, M Sudhakar, set up three special teams to probe the incident.
Speaking to Express, Inspector Lakshmanadas said that Mahendra Prabhu was working as a loadman in Theni district. He had hatched a plan with his three friends to follow and intercept the vehicle and steal the money.
Police said that footage from the CCTV cameras along the route taken by the lorry was used to identify the vehicle in which the four assailants had followed Baskar. The four men had borrowed a car from a relative of Mahendra Prabhu. The man who had lent his vehicle to the group was unaware of the gang's plan to rob Baskar, police sources said.
Police also said that the entire amount stolen from Baskar was recovered. M Sudhakar, speaking to Express, commended the efforts of the district police force in cracking the case and arresting the gang within a week of the incident.
7 Held for Cheating Bank of Rs 13.5L
The City Crime Branch (CCB) police on Monday arrested seven persons for allegedly cheating a private bank of Rs 13.5 lakh.
Police said they had conspired to cheat the Karnataka Bank’s Ramanathapuram branch by pledging gold-coated jewellery for loans.
The prime accused, Dharmaraj (53) of Selvapuram, has been the gold appraiser at the bank for the last few years. He managed to get the other accused to pledge around 700 grams of gold-coated jewellery there for regular gold loans between August 2013 and July 2014.
When these men failed to repay the loans, the bank decided to auction it. But when the jewellery was checked, it was found that they were only gold-coated.
Based on a complaint from the bank, the police arrested Dharmaraj and six of his accomplices. They were remanded and lodged in the Coimbatore Central Prison.