Trio arrested for stealing 7 tonnes of tar in Karur

TIRUCHY: Karur police on Saturday arrested three persons for stealing a whopping 7 tons of tar stocked for laying roads. The police seized the tar barrels and the vehicle used for lifting materials.

A tar mixture unit functioning at Muthanampalayam near Thennilai in Karur has been distributing tar for laying roads to private construction firms, police said. A private firm had obtained a tender for laying a road at Kodanthur village near Karur town and procured tar from the mixture unit, police said.

The firm had stocked a whopping 7 tons of tar worth several lakh rupees along the Kodanthur village and miscreants had stolen all the barrels on April 25, according to the police.

Following this, the private construction firm manager Arunkumar on Thursday filed a complaint with the Thennilai police. The police suspected the lorry drivers of the construction firm Pasupathy (30) from Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district and Krishnamurthy (35) from Ulunthurpettai in Villupuram and took them for interrogation on Friday.

The suspects confessed to the crime and stated that they transported the tar barrels in the lorry to Tiruchy and sold them for a lower price to one Manikandan (45) from Manachanallur. No one doubted the lorry drivers when they loaded the tar barrels since they had been working in the construction firm for the past few years, according to the police.

On Saturday, the police arrested all three persons and seized the barrels of tar, cash of Rs 3.50 lakh, and the lorry used for transporting the stolen tar. The trio were produced before the court and were lodged in the Kulithalai Sub-jail. Further investigations are on.