After an intensive search, the city police on Saturday arrested three youth on charges of assaulting and robbing Lavanya Jangath, a 30-year-old woman techie near Perumbakkam on Tuesday.
The police identified the acccused as N. Vinayagamurthy, 20; P. Narayanamurthy, 19, and L. Lokesh, 19, of Tsunami Quarters, Semmanchery.
Pallikaranai inspector P.K. Sivakumar said, “The main suspect, Vinayagamurthy, was working at a cinema theatre and has a criminal case against him, for attempt to murder. His accomplices are first-time offenders.”
Additional Commissioner of Police M.C. Sarangan told reporters that the seven special teams that were formed were assigned different tasks.
“We analysed the modus operandi of criminals, CCTV footage and checked details of the accused recently released on bail. Our investigation confirmed that the three are involved in the crime,” he said.
Ms. Jangath had said only one person had attacked her.
“Lavanya might not have noticed the presence of other two accomplices at the time of crime. We suspect Narayanmurthy and Lokesh accompanied the main suspect and aided him in the crime,” said an officer.
The police recovered the victim’s two-wheeler, which was abandoned near a Tasmac outlet, her two phones, gold chain and laptops, besides a long knife used by the accused.
Narrating the sequence of events, the police said Ms. Jangath, who has had a stint in London, was working at an IT company in Navalur and staying nearby. On Monday, she went to a company in Olympia Tech Park in Guindy.
After finishing her work by 11.45 p.m. she left by her two-wheeler and refused the office cab.
Around 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday, she was attacked while riding on her two-wheeler on Thalambur Road near a private school. The main accused, Vinayagamurthy, had hit her on the head with a long knife. “While she was seriously injured, she escaped with her life as she was wearing a helmet,” an officer said.
Profusely bleeding, she rolled down by the side of the road while the suspects fled with her gold chain and other valuables after taking her two-wheeler. After being alerted by passers-by, a patrol team from the Pallikaranai station rescued her at 2 a.m. and admitted her to a private hospital, where she is recuperating now.
Another gang held
Meanwhile, one of the special teams nabbed two more persons involved in robberies in the area. According to the police, a gang of four went around in a car and committed a series of offences during the night.
Whenever they spotted a possible victim — anyone on a bike or walking alone on the road — they would waylay them and escape. The police have come across at least two cases in Kilkattalai and Pallikaranai, where the victims were robbed at knifepoint.
