The police teams probing Monday’s highway heist in Mambakkam in Kancheepuram district are examining CCTV footages obtained from five toll plazas between Sriperumbudur amd Krishnagiri.
The unidentified men fled with over Rs. 3 crore worth of gold and Rs. 1 crore worth of diamonds. The consignment belonged to Titan’s jewellery division.
The daring theft took place around 1.45 p.m. on Monday, when the suspects drove away in a van carrying the jewellery and a gun belonging to security guard Subramani. The 50-year-old guard from Krishnagiri had stopped at Sri Amman Hotel on the Chennai-Bangalore highway for lunch along with the van driver, Sathish (23) of Hosur, and delivery in-charge, Rajendran (29) of Nellore. The vehicle and the weapon were found abandoned four km away, and the jewellery was stolen.
“The thieves are suspected to have fled in a car after bundling up the gold in bags they were carrying. We have collected CCTV footage from toll plazas in Sriperumbudur, Wallajah, Pallikonda, Vaniyampadi and Krishnagiri and examining them to zero in on the getaway vehicle and if we’re lucky, the images of the thieves,” said a senior officer who is part of a special team.
According to police sources, Nadhiya, the owner-cum-cashier of the eatery from where the van was stolen, had informed them the guard and the supervisor were regular customers but the driver was a stranger. She had stated the driver was the one who raised the alarm that the van was missing, the sources said.
Investigators have collected details of mobile phones that were active near the eatery and at the location where the vehicle was found abandoned. The status of known offenders involved in similar offences was also being examined, the police said.
