COIMBATORE: A six-member gang that allegedly lent bagfuls of blank papers, tricking people into believing it to be Rs 50 lakh, and then robbed the borrowers while they were on their way to Coimbatore, was detained by police on Tuesday night.
The crackdown came after an armed gang of four waylaid two youth coming from Tirupur to Coimbatore on Monday night and assaulted them near Kaniyur in Coimbatore district. The injured were identified as M Ragul Kumar (23) from KP Nagar on Sungam Bypass road near Ramanathapuram and A Dharshan Ashok (23) from Lok Maniya Thilak Street, RS Puram, in Coimbatore. The two were working at Saibaba colony and planned to acquire a new place to expand their business.
They approached Prabakaran, a financier, from Ilaiyangudi in Sivaganga but residing in Tirupur. He agreed to lend Rs 50 lakh on a 10-year-tenure after taking their asset documents as collateral and charging a Rs 2.5 lakh processing fee. The two had received a cheque for Rs 25 lakh from Prabakaran recently, but it bounced due to insufficient amount in the account. Following this, they asked for cash.
On Monday, the borrowers went to Tirupur on a bike and met Prabakaran, who gave them a bag attached with security lock. He asked them not to open the bag for safety purpose. After reaching home, the staff from the finance firm would assist them to unlock the bag at Coimbatore, they were told. Believing his words, the two had brought the bag thinking that it had full of money and carried it towards Coimbatore by bike. It was then that they were waylaid by a gang. The gang assaulted and stabbed them using a knife and decamped with the bag. The duo was referred to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on Tuesday.
"After an inquiry, it was found that they were victims of an organized robbery. Prabakaran was the mastermind," said a police officer.