Gangster, 2 aides held for theft worth Rs40lakh

CHENNAI: A notorious gangster and two of his associates, allegedly involved in robbing Rs 40 lakh from three jewellery shop workers of Madurai in July, were arrested in Red Hills on Sunday. About Rs 4.5 lakh in cash and some jewellery were recovered from them. Seven persons have already been arrested in connection with the case and a hunt is on for another person.
The arrested were identified as Thomaiah Rajan alias Rajan of Red Hills and Ismail Faizal and Umar Farooque of Kayalpatnam near Tuticorin.
Police said Rajan was involved in many robbery and dacoity cases in the city and in Andhra Pradesh. Umar Farooque had, posing as an Income Tax officer, alllegedly cheated a jeweller in Thrissur and escaped with 350 kg of silver. Faizal and Ali, an accused in the case who is at large, indulged in extortions.
According to the police, in July, Balasubramanian, Siva Murugesan and Ilangovan were intercepted at the Koyambedu rountana, forced into a car and taken to Madhavaram. An amount of Rs 40 lakh they had brought for buying gold jewellery from Parrys was seized and they were abandoned near the Manali Bridge.
Based on their complaint, the police swiftly arrested Michael, Yogeswaran alias Mani, Kumar, Alex, Bala alias Balamurugan. Two others, Francis and Bharath surrendered before a magistrate's court. About Rs 19 lakh was recovered.
On Sunday, a special team nabbed Rajan and his associates when they were plotting another extortion. They were remanded in judicial custody on Monday after being produced before a magistrate's court.