BENGALURU: The Hennur police have arrested five men, who had allegedly robbed a Kerala-based businessman of Rs 23 lakh when he had come to the city to purchase cigarettes and chocolates in bulk earlier this month.
The arrested have been identified as Mohan, Chandrashekhar, Anil, Naveen and a minor. Haneef, a Kerala-based merchant, was robbed of Rs 23 lakh by the five accused, while he was on a visit to the city to purchase cigarette and chocolates in bulk for his business.
The police said that over the last six months, Haneef and his colleagues visited the city regularly. Their bulk orders cost them around Rs 20-25 lakh and they carried cash to make the purchases. They put currency bundles under the seat of their pick-up truck and drive from Kerala to Bengaluru.
On November 11, Haneef and his associate were waiting outside the Vijaya agency around 7 am when a group of men attacked them and fled with the money kept under the seat. “When the initial investigation began, we were concentrating on mobile phone data and other technical aspects. But one of our inspectors suspected Mohan, the middleman who introduced these merchants to the agency,” DCP (East division) N. Sateesh said.
The police devised a plan to trap Mohan and asked the merchants to go out on lunch with him. “Mohan ate only half a chapati that day and he was sweating throughout. The change in the behaviour and his body language further confirmed our suspicion. He was picked up and interrogated which led the accused, who have confessed to the crime,” Mr Satheesh said.
In his statement to the police, Mohan revealed his plan as how he being the single contact person and a middleman knew where the merchants had kept the money. Cashing in on the opportunity, he hatched a plot with his associates to rob Haneef.
A case is registered in Hennur police and the accused have been remanded to judicial custody.
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