Tiruchy highway robbery: 7 of 12 accused granted two-day police custody
The robbery happened in the late hours on September 13 when the manager and a staffer of the Sowcarpet-based jewel-making unit were returning to Chennai after delivering jewels in shops in Dindigul.
TIRUCHY: Seven out of the 12 accused, who were involved in a highway gold jewel heist in Tiruchy, were produced before the court and later the police were allowed to take them for a two-day custody, on Thursday. Later the police took them to the crime spot for investigation on Thursday.
The robbery happened in the late hours on September 13 when the manager and a staffer of the Sowcarpet-based jewel-making unit were returning to Chennai after delivering jewels in shops in Dindigul.
When their car was nearing Irungalur near Samayapuram on the Tiruchy-Chennai bypass, they stopped to attend nature’s call. That was when a gang that followed them sprinkled chilli powder and snatched the bag that contained 10 kg of gold jewellery, valued at around Rs 10 crore, and fled the spot.
The staffers immediately contacted the police helpline, and a case was registered.
The SP S Selvanagarathinam formed three special teams to nab the culprits and after a thorough investigation, the special team nabbed the car driver of the jewelry shop Pradeep Khan and arrested Hanuman Ram (21), Kailash (20), Vinod alias Bannaram (31), Mohammed Sohail (21), Manokar Ram (27) and Manish Sirohi (19) on September 25 and lodged them in the Central prison, Tiruchy.
Mangilal Khannaram (22) and Vikram Jhat (19) had escaped with the gold, and the special team started searching for them.
Later, based on the confession by the accused and by tracking their mobile phone numbers, the special team found that they were travelling along the Mumbai-Agra National Highway.
The Tamil Nadu police officials sought the assistance of the Sandwa police and found that the suspects were travelling on a bus to Madhya Pradesh. The police followed the bus and nabbed both Mangilal and Vikram, and recovered 9.432 kg gold jewels, Rs 3 lakh in cash, and two country-made pistols. The duo were being brought to the state by Friday.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the police produced Pradeep Khan, Hanuman Ram, Kailash, Vinod alias Bannaram, Mohammed Sohail, Manokar Ram and Manish Sirohi, who were in the Tiruchy prison were produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court III and the police sought the custody of the accused. The Magistrate who heard the plea allowed two days' custody. The accused narrated the incident after the police took them to the crime spot.