DHARMAPURI: The Dharmapuri police are interrogating two youth in connection with alleged robbery of Rs 1.50 lakh from a state-run liquor retailer Tasmac staff who was shot at with a gun.
The 45-year-old Makarajothi of Naripalli village in Harur taluk in the district, works as a salesperson in a Tasmac shop at Chitloor village.
On Saturday night, he closed the wine shop and rode on his motorcycle to his village with that day's sales collection amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh. He was intercepted by two masked men who approached him on a two-wheeler near Chitloor-Naripalli junction road. They tried to grab the cash bag kept in the petrol tank cover of Makarajothi’s vehicle.
Police said one among the two masked men shot at Makarajothi with a country-made gun after he resisted their robbery bid. Later, they fled from the place with the booty.
Following the incident, Makarajothi contacted his relatives over his mobile phone. They came to the spot and took him to the Harur government hospital and from there he was shifted to another government hospital in Salem.
Kottaipatti police of Dharmapuri alerted their counterparts on patrol duty across Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts. A police team checking vehicles near Naripalli village noticed two youths on a two wheeler abandoning the motor cycle and disappearing in the dark. They were caught by the police team which found them hiding in a bush close by.
When questioned, they gave their names as M. Venkatesh (28) and N.Bharathan (24), both natives of Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district.
Police also confiscated Rs 1.5 lakh, a gun and the motor cycle used by them. Last year, two Tasmac employees were robbed in a similar manner near Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district. Another case was reported in Chengam taluk of Thiruvanamalai district after the Uthangarai incident.
Police are questioning Venkatesh and Bharathan to ascertain whether they were actually involved in the previous cases reported in Thiruvanamalai and Krishnagiri districts.
