Three arrested for illegally confining a man at lodge

The victim used to be courier for one of the gold smugglers and regularly smuggle gold into the country from abroad; recently he dumped gold in a trash bin in Mumbai fearing action by customs

The Esplanade Police arrested three persons on Friday on charges of forcibly locking up and assaulting a 32-year-old in a lodge in Broadway. The victim has been identified as Sriram, 32, of Karaikudi.

The police seized two motorcycles, two laptops and seven cellphones from the suspects Mohammed Arshad, 21, Naveen, 30, and Jeyaraj, 40. They are on the lookout for the main suspect Azharuddin.

It was found that Sriram carried gold from abroad on behalf of Azharuddin. He used to hand it over to Azharuddin regularly for two years. However, Sriram recently dumped the gold in a trash bin in Mumbai airport fearing customs raid. Azharuddin, who did not trust Sriram, locked him up in a lodge and hit him with weapons, the police said.