12-member gang held, gold and weapons seized

COIMBATORE: Twelve persons, including two jail warders were arrested by Tirupur police on Saturday and seized 157 sovereigns of gold jewelleries, a car and weapons from them.
Police said, they were involved in 32 chain-snatching, five house burglaries and three theft cases in different parts of Tirupur district.
Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Namakkal, Dindigul and Villupuram districts.
The accused have been identified as S Sakthivel, 30, of Beemanaikenpatti in Namakkal district, S Siva, 39, of Ramayampatti in Madurai district, A Sundaram, 23, of Thirunagar in Madurai district, M Ganesh, 46, of Samundi Puram in Tirupur district, S Raja, 50, of Ganapathy in Coimbatore city, K Sheikmoideen, 21, Ukkadam in Coimbatore city, S Mustafa, 29, of Kannankurichi in Salem district, L Sekar, 26, of Ilankadu in Vilupuram district, A Mathivanan, 34, of Pallikondapuram village in Vilupuram district, A Umanath, 33, of Ramji Nagar in Trichy district, U Pandiyaraj, 30, of Thiruparankundram in Madurai district and M Karthi, 29, of Thadikombu in Dindigul district.
Police said the accused Pandiyaraj and Karthi are working as warders in Madurai Central Prison.
Siva was working as warder in Pudukkottai sub-jail and was removed from the service two years ago due to some administrative reason. He had also worked in Madurai Central Prison.
The jail warders had close contact with the accused who were lodged in Madurai prison and they helped the accused to obtain bail from the court. The accused were hailing from various districts and met in the prison. and involved in various chain snatching cases.
According to police the two warders took leave often and went along with the accused for committing crimes. Then the Tirupur police had formed a special team led by DSP Rajaram.
The special team conducted vehicle check on the Tirupur-Palladam Road on Saturday and stopped a car in which they were travelling. The police found a sickle, one sword, two knives and two wooden logs in the car and took the 12 member-gang in custody. During the interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime.
"The 12 member-gang involved in 32 chain snatching cases, five house burglaries and three theft cases in Tirupur, Kangayam, Palladam, Udumalpet and Dharapuram areas. We have seized 157 sovereigns of gold jewels worth Rs 15.70 lakh from them," said DSP Rajaram.
The accused have been lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison and the detail investigation is on.