Police arrest eight for robbery, recover 27 sovereigns, 2 lakh

Dindigul: The Dindigul district police on Sunday arrested eight people, including a woman, in connection with an armed robbery at a house near Vedasandur in December 2022. The robbers had taken away 43 sovereigns of jewellery and a sum of 18 lakh.According to police, five robbers entered the house belonging to Srinivasan on Salaiyur Nal Road on the night of December 25. Srinivasan’s wife Kalaiyarasi was in the house with her two children. The robbers threatened to kill them, tied them up and escaped with 43 sovereigns of jewellery and 18 lakh. Under the instructions of Dindigul superintendent of police V Baskaran, four special teams were formed to trace the accused. Following an investigation, police nabbed eight people at a checkpost near Trichy border. Police also recovered 27 sovereigns of jewellery and a sum of 2.25 lakh from them.The arrested have been identified as M Ragu, 35, of Hosur, R Selvakumar, 47, of Perambalur, S Jothi, 36, and S Sirajudeen, 34, of Usilampatti, M Deenadayalan, 39, of Poonamalli, J Baskar, 39, of Chennai, P Suresh, 27, and R Satheesh, 36, of Bengaluru. “Deenadayalan had tipped off Jothi about a land sale made by Srinivasan and said that money and valuables were in the house. Deenadayalan had a fake press card. Jothi roped in Selvakumar and they brought together a five-member gang,” Baskaran told TOI.Another gang from Trichy was also brought into the loop by these accused and in total, at least 14 members had a role in the crime. Selvakumar had previously served as an armed reserve police constable in Chennai. He was sacked in 2017 after his vehicle was caught in a contraband smuggling case. “CCTV camera video footage helped us trace the accused,” Baskaran added. Police are on the lookout for the other accused.