Police foil robbery attempt, arrest seven

Gang trailed jeweller for two months to rob him

The Coimbatore City Police on Saturday morning arrested seven persons and foiled their attempt to rob a jeweller.

Tip off

Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan told reporters here on Saturday that following a specific tip off, the police arrested Sukumar (30), Mohammad Rafi (29), Mohammad Riyaz (19), Mohideen Abdul Kadar (26), Hussain Ali (25), Amjad Babu (32) and Abdul Rahman (19) when they were waiting at the Ramakrishnapuram-Ponnaiahrajapuram junction to waylay the jeweller, C. Senthil.

The gang of seven had trailed Mr. Senthil of Ramakrishnapuram, for around two months to rob him of the jewellery that he regularly carried to his clients in Chennai and Bangalore.

He was in the habit of travelling in morning trains to the two cities on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The Commissioner said that one of the seven, Abdul Kadar, had learnt about the jeweller’s movements first and then informed his friend Rafi, who brought together his friends to form a gang.

Unsuccessful attempts

After observing his movements for a while, the gang made a few unsuccessful attempts in the past two months.

They did not strike because the circumstances were not right, the police officer said.

On Saturday, the gang had hired a car and were ready armed with chloroform, chilli powder and knives.

Three of the seven waited outside the car and four remained inside, waiting for Mr. Senthil at the junction, when the police team arrived at the spot and arrested them.

Mr. Viswanathan said that the seven accused were casual labourers working as drivers, lathe attendants, and first-time offenders as well. Had they waylaid Mr. Senthil, they would have had a booty worth around Rs. 1 crore.

The police seized chloroforms, chilli powder, knives and also the car they had used. The Selvapuram police have registered cases against the seven persons.

Source

One of the angles the police were investigating was tracing the source of the information on Mr. Senthil’s movements, which Kadar had obtained. The police suspect that the information must have come from the jeweller’s inner circle of friends or relatives.