70 lakh Seven Wells robbery plan was hatched in jail

The plan for the robbery in Seven Wells, in which a gang attacked a mobile phone retailer’s employee with wooden logs and took away Rs 70 lakh from him, was hatched by the accused persons in the Puzhal jail where they were lodged for different crimes. 

The police arrested three persons suspected to be involved in the robbery case that took place on November 1 night, and recovered Rs 9.5 lakh from them. They hope to recover the rest of the amount once they catch hold of the rest of the suspects. 

One of the arrested accused, Sheik Dawood, was earlier arrested by the police in connection with the sale of pirated DVDs, who met the other suspects during his stint in Puzhal jail. Another accused, Kishore from Kodungaiyur, is drag racer. 

The victim, K Rafiq Khan (36), is an employee of Jaffer, the complainant, a mobile phone retailer in Royapuram. He was passing through Seven Wells area with the cash that was to be handed over to another businessman when a gang of men who came in two bikes intercepted and attacked him with wooden logs and fled the spot with the cash.

Based on Jaffer’s complaint, the Seven Wells police arrested Sheik Dawood (42) of Washermanpet, and Kishore (24) and Sathish (24) of Ponneri. 

After interrogation, police said Sathish’s brother who was in jail conspired with Dawood for a big strike in Seven Wells and Flower Bazaar area. Dawood had told Sathish’s brother that big money transactions took place in the business hub. This was when they decided to target Rafiq, who usually carries large sum of money on behalf of his employer. 

Interestingly, from Dawood, police could recover only Rs 9.5 lakh, the money he got as his share after the loot. “Other members, who had the bag containing cash, told Dawood that there was only Rs 30 lakh in the bag while the actual amount was more than Rs 70 lakh,” sources said. Police believe that the rest of money is with the other gang members.