Key member of inter-State robbery gang arrested

The city police claimed to have busted an inter-State gang involved in burglaries in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, after arresting a key member of the gang in Puducherry. The police are on the lookout for the two main accused.

Probing a couple of house break-ins within its limits, the Anna Nagar police nabbed Kamalakannan and Gopal on May 10. During interrogation, they found that the duo was involved in over 17 burglaries in Anna Nagar and surrounding areas.

Following their confession, the police found out that N. Murugan alias ‘Thiruvarur’ Murugan, 44, and Kovan alias V. Dinakaran, 35, of Tirunelveli were part of the gang.

While searching for the duo, the police nabbed M. Raguraman, from Mudhaliarpet in Puducherry. He helped the gang sell the stolen jewellery, they said.

Silver bars seized

On seeing the police, Raguraman started running but the police team chased and nabbed him. They seized a dozen silver bars worth over ₹5 lakh from him. He told the police that he was a relative of ‘Thiruvarur’ Murugan and had sheltered the offenders in the city.

S. Senthilkumar, Crime Inspector of Anna Nagar police, said, “We have launched a manhunt to nab Murugan and Dinakaran, who are wanted for robbery in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry.”

According to him, the duo travelled in a car during daytime to identify the houses that were potential targets. Later in the night, they travelled in a sedan. They had looted from houses, banks and ATMs, he said.

Murugan and Dinakaran had been arrested by the Cyberabad Police in Telangang and the Bengaluru police for robberies, automobile thefts, and a temple theft in 2015.

In 2008, Murugan reportedly teamed up with Dinakaran to rob houses in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The gang was on a looting spree to produce a movie, the police said.