Chennai: A woman karakattam dancer, Mohanambal, also a wanted red sander smuggler, surrendered in a Vellore court along with her sister on Monday. Her nephew Saravanan, believed to be her partner in crime, is still absconding. .
The judged ordered them to appear in the Katpadi court on Wednesday. Both of them were taken to the special prison for women.
After this, they would be taken into police custody for enquiry, sources added.
Mohanambal, while leading the life of a karakatam dancer in the outside world, was running a racket of money-lending, prostitution and red sander smuggling parallely.
“Now in her late forties, she used to donate to temples and still keep in touch with karakatam dancers. But the wealth she accumulated did not match the professional income she could generate from dancing and we had been keeping an eye on her for some time. Only after in-fighting broke out in the gang, were we able to get some tip-off and strike,” an officer disclosed.
Along with her nephew Saravanan (the son of her sister Nirmala), Mohanambal had been running a major red sander smuggling racket and had acquired 28 houses.
The police raided her house based on a tip-off and seized cash and gold from there. She managed to escape before the police reached her place.
The police are hopeful of catching the other two soon. They believe that they will be able to find out if she and Saravanan were merely fronts for some influential politicians in Vellore, after taking her into custody for detailed questioning.
