The Hindu : Front Page : 5 held for Veppur robbery, Rs. 1.5 crore recovered

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Wednesday, Sep 24, 2008
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5 held for Veppur robbery, Rs. 1.5 crore recovered

Special Correspondent

Two employees of jewellery shop heldBack-up visuals in surveillance camera helped investigators narrow down on suspects

Photo: R. Ragu

BREAKTHROUGH: Stolen cash recovered by a special team on display at the north zone IG office in Alandur. —

CHENNAI: In a breakthrough in the Veppur robbery case, in which armed gangsters looted Rs. 3.72 crore from employees of a Tiruchi-based jewellery shop, the Cuddalore police on Tuesday arrested five suspects and recovered Rs. 1.5 crore.

Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) T. Rajendran said three staff members of Mangal & Mangal jewellery shop in Tiruchi were proceeding to Chennai in a container van to purchase gold on August 10 this year when the gang posing as police personnel intercepted the vehicle near Veppur.

As soon as the vehicle stopped, the gangsters brandished weapons and forced the three passengers — Srinivasan, Boopathy and Senthilkumar — into the rear enclosure and took away Rs.3.72 crore. The 11-member gang split into two groups and escaped in different vehicles.

Inspector-General of Police (North Zone) R.C. Kudawla formed special teams led by Cuddalore Superintendent of Police Pradip Kumar and Additional SP R. Sakthivelu.

Besides intelligence inputs, back-up visuals in surveillance camera helped investigators narrow down on the suspects, including two employees of the jewellery shop, who conspired in the daylight robbery, Mr. Rajendran said.

Among the 450 employees in the jewellery shop, the team verified the antecedents of those who had not come to work on August 10. Enquiries revealed that salesman Shanmugamani (28), who had reported sick, was not at home that day.

Footage of surveillance camera installed in the shop showed Shanmugamani and another employee, Maruthai (38), in close proximity to the proprietor while he was giving instructions on taking the cash to Chennai.

On interrogation, the duo confessed to have conspired to commit the offence as the proprietor had not disbursed bonus. Through a common friend, Sundaresan (26), they got in touch with Kannan (32), Meyyan (45) and Raja (25). They then got in touch with a known offender, who agreed to plan and execute the robbery along with four of his associates. All the accused met on August 9 in Tiruchi and hired a car. While some reached Veppur in advance by bus, others followed the container van in the car.

The police arrested Shanmugamani, Maruthai, Raja, Sundaresan and Meyyan and recovered Rs.1.5 crore and the car used to commit the crime from them.

“We are following specific clues to arrest others involved in this case. Where transportation of big money is involved, the police can provide escort on request,” Mr. Rajendran said.

Villupuram Range DIG E.M. Masanamuthu said the Income Tax Department would be informed about the recovery of cash.

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