COIMBATORE: A 29-year-old woman, who alleged that she and her partners were robbed of 12 sovereigns of gold ornaments and Rs 8,500 cash by a gang of five men, was arrested along with her accomplice for concocting the story here on Thursday.
Sources said that the duo identified as M Sathya (29) from Anna Nagar on Thadagam road and A Sadham (32) from Kuniyamuthur worked with a self-help group.
According to police, the suspect Sathya had asked Rs 10,000 to one of the co-workers K Shanthi (51) from Kamadenu Nagar near Vadavalli to buy a two-wheeler. Sathya, who went to Santhi's house to collect the money on May 22, took an alleged automobile consultant Pradeepkumar (37) with her to explain the process of buying a scooter and to check the buyer's repayment capacity.
It was reported that while they were discussing, a five-member masked gang entered into Shanthi's house and started to assault them. They robbed 12 sovereigns of gold ornaments and `8,500 cash from the trio at knife-point. Later, Sathya and Pradeepkumar were forcibly taken into the house where they took obscene pictures of them. It was alleged that they were told not to approach the police, or else the photos would be uploaded on social media sites.
Following the incident, Pradeepkumar lodged a complaint with the Vadavalli police who booked a case under sections 450 (House-trespass in order to commit offence), 392 (Punishment for robbery) and 397 (Robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of IPC. A special team was appointed to nab the dacoity gang.
"Over the suspicion on Sathya's act, police led an inquiry into her. During the course of the investigation, she admitted and confessed to the crime and told she had plotted the story to rob of Santhi. A part of valuables were recovered from the duo and the inquiry is still underway to nab remaining four accused," said a police officer.