The Coimbatore District Police on Tuesday arrested a fifth accused in connection with the robbery attempt and attack on a Kerala-bound car on Salem – Kochi highway (NH 544) near Madukkarai on June 14 morning.
The arrested has been identified as K. Vishnu, 28, a native of Palakkad district in Kerala. The police said Vishnu, who had been working as a driver, was involved in the attack and robbery attempt on Ernakulam native Aslam Siddique, 27, his staff Nithin and Akshay and his friend Charles.
On Sunday, June 16, the police had arrested four persons from Palakkad district, namely K. Sivadas (29), Ramesh Babu (27) and M. Vishnu (28) from Chittur and M. Ajay (24) from Nallepilly.
Officials privy to the investigation said the police were on the lookout for at least four more accomplices of the five persons arrested.
As per the confession by the arrested, they targeted the car of Mr. Siddique, suspecting that it would have been carrying a large sum of money. The incident happened when Mr. Siddique and the three others were returning from Bengaluru, after purchasing computers and peripherals.
However, the police suspect that the gang had information of a car carrying unaccounted cash and it targeted the wrong vehicle.
The gang of men, who came in three cars and waylaid Mr. Siddique’s car near Madukkarai toll plaza, attacked the vehicle with iron rods. However, Mr. Siddique sped away the car and sought police help after crossing the toll plaza.
