Man attempting to buy bike on Instagram assaulted, robbed in Sriperumbudur
Vinoth, a native of Tiruvannamalai and an engineering graduate, resided in Thoraipakkam while searching for employment
Kari Selvam; Dharma
CHENNAI: An attempt to buy a used bike from an Instagram advertisement ended uneventfully for a 24-year-old man on Sunday with assault and robbery. Subsequently, the police arrested seven people, including two women, linked to the robbery on Tuesday night, while the main accused, the one who posted the advertisement, is on the run.
Vinoth, a native of Tiruvannamalai and an engineering graduate, resided in Thoraipakkam while searching for employment. Coming across an Instagram profile selling pre-owned bikes with proper documents at a low price, Vinoth contacted the handler to purchase a bike.
The account holder, in turn, informed Vinoth to visit Puthu Nallur village near Somangalam in Sriperumbudur and shared a location. Vinoth reached the location with his friends Nishanth and Sathish on Sunday and met Kari Selvam (29), the one who posted the advertisement.
He claimed that the bike was in his friend's house and took them to a nearby forest area. Once they reached an isolated place, a gang hiding in the forest surrounded the trio and demanded cash and valuables from them at knifepoint. When the friends refused, they allegedly attacked Vinoth using a knife.
Fearing for their lives, Vinoth transferred Rs 15,000 through UPI to a bank account belonging to Kari Selvam's sister-in-law. He also handed over his 2.5 sovereign gold chain and a smartphone. Then the gang let them go, and Vinoth and his friends visited the Somangalam police station and filed a complaint.
The police traced the gang using the UPI transaction details and on Wednesday arrested seven persons, including Kari Selvam's wife Srimathi (26), sister-in-law Nagarani (33), his friends Sanjay (18), Dharma (19), Sathish (19), Velu (18), and Sarvin (19). Police said the main accused, Kari Selvam, is missing and a search is on to nab him.
Police said Kari Selvam already has several pending cases, including robbery, murder attempt, and ganja peddling against him at the Kundrathur police station.
