Salem: Varying stories are doing the rounds in the steel town here on Sunday after Karnataka police team forcibly took away an alleged accused in a ‘gutka’ (banned tobacco) case at gunpoint near Sundar lodge bus stop in Salem on Saturday night.
Police said on Sunday that two youth were sipping coffee at a coffee shop near the bus stop last night when four ‘smartly dressed’ persons coming in two cars stopped by and accosted them. The intruders asked one of the youth to “accompany them” and when they refused to oblige, one of the foursome suddenly pulled out a revolver and warned one of the youth to go with them.
As they whisked away the youth at gunpoint into their car and sped, the other youth on the road alerted the Salem police control room. Policemen there radioed a message through wireless and Karuppur police managed to intercept the speeding car and made enquiries with the four persons.
It was then that the four persons who came in the cars disclosed that they were from ‘Karnataka Electricity Police’ and were investigating a case of alleged carting of Rs.25 lakh worth ‘Gutka’, with two persons in Salem. The person picked up by the Karnataka cops at gunpoint was Harris Devaraju, 28 from Shevapet.
Meanwhile, the other guy left on the road, Dholaram, 27, told Asthampatti police that Harris Devaraju was his relative.
Further investigations are on at two different police stations, even as there were unconfirmed reports of the two youth having been “kidnapped” by some unknown miscreants.
