Chennai: Armed truck gang robs workers on highways

Chennai: City police have launched a hunt for a gang who travel in a truck and indulge in knifepoint robbery in parts of the city and in Tiruchy during the last few weeks.

The truck bearing registration number TN 18 S 9046, police said was a stolen one. Police sources said that the truck was stolen from Kavarapet in Tiruvallur district at the beginning of this month.

Since then, police sources said the gang had indulged in knifepoint robbery in Nemilichery, Thirunindravur, Ambattur and in Tiruchy targeting highway construction workers.

Recently, the gang had held labourers at the site of an under-construction bridge near Manali and escaped with several lakhs worth construction material in their truck.

The gang had also usurped the mobile phones and valuables from the workers.
The incident happened along the Tiruvottiyur- Manali road. One of the workers, Zamin (32) of Odisha,  was also attacked by the gang while others were held at knifepoint. Preliminary investigations have suggested that the heist was carried out by an eight-member gang.

After a police complaint, police perused CCTV footages and identified the truck and found it was stolen from Tiruvallur more than a week ago. Police have also found that the gang was involved in similar robberies in other places on the city outskirts. Meanwhile, the truck was found abandoned near Sriperumbudur on Monday, police sources said.

The modus operandi is similar to the highway robbery gang featured in the recent Tamil movie Theeran based on true incidents that happened in the state a decade and a half ago. A special team has been formed to trace the suspects.