Police constable who robbed cash from Hawala courier arrested

CHENNAI: City Police arrested an Armed Reserve (AR) constable for allegedly robbing Rs 30 lakh from a man who was carrying hawala money. A search is on for the constable's accomplice, a trader in Burma Bazaar.

The arrested policeman was identified as Senthil Kumar, attached to Chennai Police's AR unit. He and his associate learnt of the movement of Hawala money and plotted to rob one of the carriers.

Accordingly, the duo targeted Azhaguraja of Kallakurichi, who was often employed as a courier transporting hawala cash, police sources said.

Senthil Kumar and his accomplice intercepted Azhaguraja near Dr Muthusamy Bridge on Monday night. Senthil took the cash from Azhaguraja in the pretext of enquiry and asked him to collect the same from Esplanade police station after producing documents assuming that the carrier would not approach the police.

Esplanade police who received a complaint from Azhaguraja's employer probed the complaint and learnt that a constable was involved in the robbery and secured Senthil Kumar. Police investigations revealed that the constable's share was Rs 10 lakh. Esplanade police registered a case and arrested Senthil Kumar. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody