Chennai: Two couples rob auto at knife-point

Chennai: Posing as passengers, two couples hijacked an autorickshaw by threatening the auto driver under knife-point on Friday night near Puzhal. They also made way with the auto driver’s mobile phone and Rs 2,000, police said.
Within hours of the robbery, police managed to flag down the vehicle at a check post  near Krishnankulam in Puzhal police limits and arrested the two young women, according to the officials.

The incident happened around midnight. The auto driver, K Jothilingam was waiting near the Tondiarpet powerhouse when the quartet approached Jothilingam, posing as passengers. They had boarded the auto asking them to take to Minjur. “When the auto was moving near Puzhal, one of the men requested the auto driver to park the vehicle to attend nature’s call. When Jothilingam halted the auto, the man took a knife and threatened him to abandon his vehicle,” a police officer said. The quarter also escaped with the driver’s mobile phone and Rs 2000 cash.  

The driver managed to seek the help of a passerby and alerted the police control room. A team from the Puzhal police station rushed to the aid of the driver and vehicular checks were intensified, a senior police officer said. “Control room of the neighbouring Thiruvallur district police were also alerted,” the officer added.
Minjur police managed to flag down the vehicle near Krishnakulam check post.

However, the men who got wind of the situation escaped leaving the women behind in the vehicle. Minjur police handed over the women, S Subha (20) and S Suganthi (22) to the Puzhal police. Investigations revealed that their husbands, Shankar and Selvam are repeat offenders and have pending robbery and waylaying cases in Tondiarpet and Washermanpet police stations. The women were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.