NCB ‘sleuths’ abduct, rob and release five men

Fake NCB sleuths took the victims, blindfolded them in a vehicle at gunpoint and robbed them of their mobile phones, foreign and Indian currencies worth Rs 16 lakh before bundling them out at various places between Tambaram and Chengalpet on Saturday night. 

Police said the incident happened just after midnight when the suspects were travelling from a lodge in Triplicane to the airport to catch 3.20 am, Sunday, flight to Colombo. The victims were identified as Abdul Aziz, 45, from Washermanpet, Sukkur, 32 for Puducherry, Mohamed Sayed, 30, of Ramanathapuram, Prakash of Ramanathapuram and Nayanar Mohamed, from Sri Lanka, all businessmen trading in lungi and nighties. Nayanar Mohamed hails from Sri Lanka, police said. 

The taxi carrying the five had just crossed Hazarkhana bus stop when a SUV intercepted their vehicle. A team of men with guns and handcuffs, got out the vehicle and approached the five in the taxi. 

“They claimed they were from NCB and said they wanted to check their belongings as they suspected that the victims were carrying narcotics. The taxi driver was told by the ‘NCB men’ to wait as all the five will be sent back to the same spot. The five were blindfolded, pushed into the SUV and sped away from the spot. The driver of the taxi waited till 5am after which he called the owner to inform the development,” police sources said. The ‘sleuths’ took notes worth Rs.16 lakh and passports, mobile phones belonging to the five and started allowing the victims to get off from the vehicle by one by one. 

Abdul Aziz was allowed to get down at Tambaram, Sukkur at Vandalur, Mohamed Syed at Potheri, Prakash at Guduvancherry and Nayanar Mohammed at Chengalpattu. Nayanar was handed over everyone’s passports and mobiles before he was let off. 

They later grouped together and lodged a complaint at the ST Thomas Mount police station. Police later claimed that they were not sure if the guns carried by the robbers were real or not.