Fifth accused arrested in Vadapalani hotel diamond theft case
The victim, Chandrashekar (69), a resident of Anna Nagar was approached by two middlemen on Sunday afternoon at his residence and the latter expressed interest in buying an antique diamond from the victim
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CHENNAI: In a development in the diamond theft case, the city police arrested another person for the theft of diamonds from an antique jewellery dealer in the city two days ago.
Chennai police, along with Thoothukudi police, busted a four-member gang, who posed as prospective buyers, and who fled the city with diamond stones worth several lakhs after tying up a diamond and antique jewellery dealer in a hotel room in Vadapalani, within 12 hours of the incident.
The victim, Chandrashekar (69), a resident of Anna Nagar was approached by two middlemen on Sunday afternoon at his residence and the latter expressed interest in buying an antique diamond from the victim. A meeting was set up at a private hotel in Vadapalani where the buyers were supposed to meet Chandrashekar.
The suspects took Chandrashekar's friend outside the room on the pretext of discussing advance payment, leaving the elderly jewellery dealer alone. When the 69-year-old man was alone in the room, the 'buyers' overpowered him, tied him to a chair and fled with the diamonds.
A police team intercepted the suspects' getaway vehicle at the Pandiyapuram checkpost and arrested John Lloyd (34) of Iyyappanthangal, S Vijay (24) of Valasaravakkam, R Ratheesh (28) of Thiruverkadu, and G Arun Pandiarajan (32) of Paramakudi.
Subsequently, on Thursday, the police arrested Manikandan, who was inside the hotel room when the dealer was attacked. Manikandan was part of the gang, but he split up and fled to Thanjavur, police said.
