An armed gang attacked three men outside a grocery wholesale store in Poonamallee on Friday night and robbed over Rs. 4 lakh.
Sources with the Poonamallee police said the attack took place around 10.45 p.m. on Friday outside Jayam Traders, a wholesale grocery store, on Vytheshwaran Koil Street belonging to Kannan (40) who is a resident of Trunk Road, Poonamallee.
Kannan had brought down the shop’s shutters after taking the day’s collection of Rs. 4.5 lakh in a bag. Kannan left the shop along with a staff member Mukesh (26) and Navaneethakrishnan (50), the last customer of the day.
Police suspect the culprits waited outside the store in an SUV. “Suddenly, four men, one armed with a knife and the others with clubs, stepped out of a Toyota Qualis and came towards the three men. The gang attacked the men and fled in the vehicle after snatching the money bag from Kannan,” said an investigating officer.
Mukesh suffered a injury while Kannan and Navaneethakrishnan were attacked with clubs by the gang. The street where the attack took place was deserted at the time as other shopkeepers had left around 10.15 p.m. The victim cried out for help but some locals spotted them only after a while and rushed the three men to a hospital, the officer added.
Some members of the public in the locality alerted the police after the attack. A team from the Poonamallee police station reached the spot and conducted prelimnary investigations.
They also recorded the statements of the three victims who are admitted to a hospital in Porur and are said to be out of danger.
A few weeks ago, burglars struck at a grocery store on Trunk Road after breaking open the locks on the shutters and fled with a quantity of cigarette cartons, police sources said.
