Highway robbery: 3 held with ₹28 lakh cash

Police have arrested three habitual offenders for robbing a fuel station manager of ₹ 34 lakh near Kaavalkinaru recently and have picked up seven more persons, including a teenager and a woman.

An official statement said three unidentified persons robbed ₹34 lakh from a fuel station manager even as he was taking it in his bike to remit it at a bank near Kaavalkinaru Junction on May 5. A case was registered by the Panagudi police.

Five special teams, coordinated by Deputy Superintendent of Police, Valliyoor Venkatesh, were formed to nab the culprits.

During investigation, the police found that the highway robbery had been orchestrated by S. Kalyani, 20, of Thennimalai near Nanguneri and his associates identified as Saravanan, 24, of Sayalgudi in Ramanathapuram district and Dineshwaran, 26, of Madurai, who had been lodged in a jail after being arrested in connection with different cases. Moreover, Kalyani is the prime accused in the attack on Nanguneri Scheduled Caste boy and his sister. He is also facing a few more criminal cases registered in Kalakkad, Thirukkurungudi and Perunthurai police stations.

The police teams, which searched their hideouts at Madurai, Dindigul, Karur and Salem, finally intercepted the trio at Yercaud even as they were fleeing on a bike. However, the bike met with an accident injuring them. After recovering ₹28 lakh from them, the police have admitted them at the Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Based on the information provided by the trio, the police have picked up seven more persons, including the minor boy and a woman for interrogation.