In a significant breakthrough in the assault and robbery of a jaggery merchant at the Podanur Railway Junction on May 30, the special teams of the Railway Police have arrested one person and seized a vehicle used to commit the crime.
A jaggery merchant Zakir Hussain from Neikaranpatti near Palani in Dindigul District, who was returning from Kerala, alighted at the Podanur Junction with Rs 9.25 lakh. A five-member gang pounced on him, sprayed chilli powder on his face and inflicted injuries using a sickle.
Following the incident, Railway Police registered a case and formed special teams under the supervision of DIG of Police – Railway Police R. Dhinakaran. The special teams were led by Inspector of Railway Police M. Lawrence (Coimbatore) and Saraswathi of Podanur Police.
The teams traced C. Sunny of Kalavoor in Alappuzha district on Saturday night. Investigations revealed that the accused had bought the vehicle utilising a bank loan and was using it for chartered tours.
Anish, who befriended Sunny at a tutorial had hired the former’s vehicle for his friends to travel to Karnataka and Coimbatore. With the car being driven by Sunny, Anish, Arif, Renjumon, ‘Kakka’ Ranjith, Shankar and Subesh came to Coimbatore on May 29.
It was on the same day that Arif received information that Zakir Hussain was travelling with Rs 9.25 lakh cash from Kerala to Podanur. The gang then decided to rob him. The special teams are in Kerala to nab the other six accused. The teams are also on the look-out for the informer who alerted the gang about the prospective victim.
