The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Gang held within three hours of robbery

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Gang held within three hours of robbery

By Our Staff Reporter

The Joint Commissioner of Police (North), C. Sylendra Babu, takes stock of the stolen currency recovered from a six-member gang in Chennai on Saturday. — Photo Vino John

CHENNAI, MARCH 5. The city police on Friday night nabbed a six-member gang within three hours of it robbing a person of Rs. 11 lakhs at Royapuram.

According to the police, the gang, armed with knives, waylaid and assaulted Tiruvottiyur resident Vijayachandiran at the Old Royapuram Bridge around 10 p.m. and decamped with Rs.11 lakhs. The money was a part of the day's earnings in a steel merchant's shop at Broadway where he was working. He was carrying it to the owner's residence at Washermanpet.

Residents, who witnessed the robbery, alerted a police patrol vehicle. Four members were travelling in an autorickshaw and twoon a scooter. The residents noted down the registration numbers.

When a patrol vehicle stopped the autorickshaw near Mint, the gang members brandished knives at the police but they were overpowered. Based on interrogation, the police tracked down the other members.

The Joint Commissioner (North), C. Sylendra Babu, said the gang planned the robbery meticulously for two weeks. The prime accused, identified as S. Srinivasan of Tiruvottiyur, received information about huge sums of money being transported everyday by Mr. Vijayachandiran from one of his friends, Charles, who worked in a steel godown at Broadway.

According to the police, Mr. Vijayachandiran carried up to Rs.50 lakhs on his scooter on some days.

Srinivasan and Charles hatched the plan to rob Mr. Vijayachandiran and organised the gang and getaway vehicles. The gang covertly followed Mr. Vijayachandiran last week to finalise the place and timing of the strike.

On Thursday night, Charles stayed away. Srinivasan and four others, including an auto driver, followed Mr. Vijayachandiran from Broadway and made the strike at the bridge.

Sensing the police alert, Srinivasan abandoned his motorcycle and took the money bag home in a bus.

Investigations led to Srinivasan's residence at Ennore, where he was held and the money recovered.

Pat for police

Mr. Sylendra Babu appreciated the inspector Karunakaran of Old Washermanpet district for rushing first to the scene of crime and the staff of the modernised control room for alerting all patrol vehicles. "The prime offender was also a first-time offender. Had we let him escape, the enquiry might have been delayed," Mr. Babu said.

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