Tiruchy highway heist: 12-member north Indian gang held; 97% of gold recovered
The probe found that the car driver, Pradeep Khan, was the key accused who had charted out the plan for the burglary, the SP said.
Arrested gang
Recovered gold, weapons
TIRUCHY: With the arrest of three more persons, including a couple, the Tiruchy police had caught the 12-member North Indian gang in connection with the highway gold robbery and recovered 97 per cent gold from the accused, said the SP S Selvanagarathinam here on Friday.
Displaying the recovered jewellery, cash, seized weapons and a car along with the gang to the reporters in Tiruchy, the SP said, on September 13, the Chennai based jewellery shop manager and a staff were returning to Chennai with 10 kg of jewellery after distributing jewellery in Dindigul and Pradeep Khan, a resident from Rajasthan was the driving the car owned by the jewellery making unit.
When they stopped the car at Samayapuram in Tiruchy-Chennai bypass to attend nature’s call, a gang appeared there in another car and sprinkled chilli powder onto them and escaped with the gold. Based on the complaint, five special teams were formed, which commenced the search operation in various states, including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.
The probe found that the car driver, Pradeep Khan, was the key accused who had charted out the plan for the burglary, the SP said.
“We have arrested 12 persons, including a woman, at various places, including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Pradeep Khan had joined the outlet three months ago, and he passed on information to his gang about the transportation of jewellery to various places. Wherever he went, the gang followed them,” the SP said.
The SP further said that their actual plan was to hit the car that had jewellery; however, they were not able to execute it due to regular vehicle inspections by the police across the state, the SP stressed.
“The special teams had done an exceptional job for the past 25 days and followed the culprits based on the CCTV footage and their mobile towers. Thus, out of 9.9 kg jewellery, we have recovered 9.6 kg, which is 97 per cent of the recovery rate and a cash of Rs 6 lakh, a car, two country-made pistols,” he said.
He also said that several cases were pending against the gang across Tamil Nadu and various north Indian states. “The people who employ the North Indian people should study their background carefully. If the jewellery shops require police protection for transporting a huge quantity of gold, they can approach us and we will certainly support them,” added the SP.
