Road to Kancheepuram a soft target for robbers

CHENNAI: National Highway 4 be tween Chennai and Bangalore appears to have turned into a soft target for robbers, especially between Chennai and Kancheepuram. At least four violent robberies have been reported on the stretch in the past year. According to police and transport companies, most highway robberies are executed with the help of truck drivers employed by the firms whose vehicles are targeted.
"The robbers network with truckers who pass on information about consignments being transported to Bangalore and other cities from Chennai port or air cargo being moved to these destinations," said S Saravanan of the city airport transport association. "Without knowing the nature of the cargo and its worth as well as vehicle details, it's virtually impossible to pull off a big highway robbery."
Robbers target trucks with expensive consignments like electronic products, cellphones, laptops, bulk drug products and copper rods.
Cases of robbery on the stretch are mostly premeditated, Kancheepuram superintendent of police C Vijayakumar said. "The culprits usually collude with employees or former employees of transport firms," he said. "There is no indication that a specific gang has been responsible for multiple cases." Recently, the Kancheepuram police arrested members of a highway gang and seized auto parts worth `85 lakh from them. Police identified them as M Rajiv, 29, of Ashok Nagar, S Karthikeyan, 25, of West Mambalam, T Marichamy, 32, of MMDA Colony, T Babu, of Chromepet, and C Ashok Kumar, 50, of Tambaram East.
Chennai Goods Transporters Association's former president K M Narasimhan said there were notorious highway robbers on the Chennai-Puducherry highway earlier. "Police arrested most members of that gang and the route became safer," he said.
He said truck owners receive a maximum of 60% of the value of the stolen goods through insurance. "Our association did not receive any complaints from members about highway robbers targeting their trucks," Narasimhan said, adding, however, that trucks are particularly vulnerable in highways in the north, especially in Uttar Pradesh.