A civil services aspirant, J. Saravanan (34) alias ‘Collector’ Saravanan, is said to have been involved in nine robbery cases reported in Ramanathapuram, Madurai and Virudhunagar.
Madurai district police, who took him into custody on Tuesday evening, said Saravanan had confessed to his involvement in a murder case reported under Karuppayoorani police station limits, and two robbery cases reported in T. Kallupatti and M. Chatrapatti.
After completing his graduation in Coimbatore, Saravanan, son of a widow, had gone to New Delhi to attend coaching classes for civil services examination.
“However, his craving for luxurious life changed him. After having tested his hands in theft at his relative’s house, he made robbery his profession in the last four years,” a police source said.
Saravanan would carry mobile phones as he thought that it would leave traces of his crime. He also used to assault people with lethal weapons and cause bleeding injuries during robberies.
The police said his team robbed the family of a TNEB official of around 120 sovereigns at knifepoint at T. Kallupatti. Similarly, he assaulted a farmer and robbed him of 15 sovereigns of gold and Rs 10,000 at knifepoint at M. Chatrapatti.
“He also carried country-made guns to threaten the victims,” the police said.
Besides a vehicle stolen at Sellur, he had four other vehicles, including two SUVs. Saravanan used to shuffle his teams for different types of crimes. He had hired houses at Anna Nagar, Tiruppuvanam, where he used to stay. His team members, including a driver from the local area, used to identify houses to be targeted at night, the police said.
At last, the free run came to an end after the murder of an engineer from Ramanathapuram.
The body was dumped at Varichiyur. Further interrogation is on.
