Police Constable Among Two Arrested for Theft

Chennai: A 36-year-old police constable and his friend were arrested by the Kilpauk police for allegedly robbing Rs. 5.5 lakhs from a man on Saturday. The duo took the money from the victim, claiming that they were policemen.The arrested duo is D. Charles, a grade I constable attached to the Vellavedu police station, and his friend S. Ramachandran, 35, a private company employee.On Saturday, the duo saw the victim, Jabunul Azad, 33, coming out of an ATM. They waylaid him and said that they were policemen, questioning him about whether he was carrying hawala money. When he said that he had Rs. 5.5 lakhs with him, the duo took it from him. They told him that he should come to the station for an inquiry and left. They also took his mobile phone.On Monday, Azad lodged a police complaint, based on which the police arrested the duo. They recovered Rs. 3.1 lakhs from them. The victim said that the cash was hawala money, and that was the reason he delayed filing a formal police complaint.