Gang abducts, robs businessman of Rs 98 lakh
TNN | Mar 12, 2019, 06:23 IST
Five men in ‘khaki’ board an MTC bus at Kilpauk.CHENNAI: Five men in ‘khaki’ boarded an MTC bus at Kilpauk on Saturday night, escorted a Trichy-based businessman out into a waiting car and sped off.
The gang later snatched Rs 98 lakh from him and pushed him out, blindfolded, on the road at Vandalur and fled.
The victim, 27-year-old Gopinath, returned to the city in another bus and narrated his tale of woe to some of his friends.
They lodged a complaint with the Kilpauk police on Sunday.
A case was registered and senior officers visited the crime scene to check if the victim was giving valid information. CCTV camera footage from the site of abduction on Taylor’s Road in Kilpauk showed an Innova car blocking the way of an MTC bus on route 15B (Parry’s-Koyambedu).
Police then contacted over phone, the crew members of the bus who said that after the bus was forced to stop around 9pm, five men rushed in. They were wearing khakhi trousers and had police shoes on but their shirts were plain white.
They spotted Gopinath and ran towards him, shouting, “Are you smuggling ganja in your bag?” Before the trader could respond and any of the commuters could realize what was happening, the gang members had dragged him out along with his bag.
Another witness, autorickshaw driver Palanivel of T P Chathiram, told police that everyone who saw the man being dragged out thought he was a criminal. “We believed he had been caught for some offence,” he said. They bundled him into the Innova that was strategically parked across the bus with a man at the wheel and the engine running and sped away towards Koyambedu.
However, during investigation, police found that none of the witnesses had noticed the registration number of the car which was not a regular police vehicle. It was later found to be a fake registration. Four special teams have been formed to nab the suspects and police now suspect the car driver was a part of the gang or was helping them.
Police also believe that the suspects may have been monitoring the movements of Gopinath for a long time before targeting him at a spot where there was little chance of being intercepted. They may also have received a tip from a person who knew about Gopinath’s movemets in the city carrying huge amounts of cash.
The gang later snatched Rs 98 lakh from him and pushed him out, blindfolded, on the road at Vandalur and fled.
The victim, 27-year-old Gopinath, returned to the city in another bus and narrated his tale of woe to some of his friends.
They lodged a complaint with the Kilpauk police on Sunday.
A case was registered and senior officers visited the crime scene to check if the victim was giving valid information. CCTV camera footage from the site of abduction on Taylor’s Road in Kilpauk showed an Innova car blocking the way of an MTC bus on route 15B (Parry’s-Koyambedu).
Police then contacted over phone, the crew members of the bus who said that after the bus was forced to stop around 9pm, five men rushed in. They were wearing khakhi trousers and had police shoes on but their shirts were plain white.
They spotted Gopinath and ran towards him, shouting, “Are you smuggling ganja in your bag?” Before the trader could respond and any of the commuters could realize what was happening, the gang members had dragged him out along with his bag.
Another witness, autorickshaw driver Palanivel of T P Chathiram, told police that everyone who saw the man being dragged out thought he was a criminal. “We believed he had been caught for some offence,” he said. They bundled him into the Innova that was strategically parked across the bus with a man at the wheel and the engine running and sped away towards Koyambedu.
However, during investigation, police found that none of the witnesses had noticed the registration number of the car which was not a regular police vehicle. It was later found to be a fake registration. Four special teams have been formed to nab the suspects and police now suspect the car driver was a part of the gang or was helping them.
Police also believe that the suspects may have been monitoring the movements of Gopinath for a long time before targeting him at a spot where there was little chance of being intercepted. They may also have received a tip from a person who knew about Gopinath’s movemets in the city carrying huge amounts of cash.
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