Chennai: Four member gang kidnaps usurer at gunpoint, loots Rs 20 lakh

Chennai: The city police have launched a manhunt for a gun-toting gang that robbed a pawnbroker on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway, on Sunday night.

Police identified the victim as Manikandan (40) who owned a pawn shop in Krishnagiri. “On Friday, a man identifying himself as Sakthivel from Kancheepuram, contacted the victim's pawn shop and enquired about the price he would take gold jewels for.

Sakthivel alleged that he had old jewels worth a crore, and wanted to sell them at a very low price,” said a policeofficer.

Police said quoting Manikandan said that Sakthivel had asked the victim to come to Kancheepuram with Rs 20 lakhs in cash for the old jewellery.

Convinced, Manikandan reached Kancheepuram around 7 pm on Sunday night. When he was waiting for Manikandan at a bus stop in the Chennai- Bengaluru highway, a four-membered gang abducted him in a car. They threatened him at gunpoint and asked him to to hand over the cash. When he refused to give, they attacked him brutally and robbed of the cash. However, when Manikandan tried to contact Sakthivel, his phone was switched off.

“While waiting for the bus, a white-coloured cab with four men stopped next to him. The cab driver enquired about an address and within seconds they pulled me inside the cab and fled. They drove around for 40 minutes before assaulting and robbing, and later dumped me in an isolated dark place on the highway, making it impossible for me to note down the registration number,” he said.

He admitted himself at a private hospital nearby and later lodged a complaint with the Babuchetty Chatham police. A case is registered into the incident under Sections 365 (abduction), 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act. Probe is on.