Special teams of the Coimbatore District (Rural) Police on Sunday arrested six persons, including five from Kerala, in connection with a carjacking reported at Navakkarai on December 25, which the police suspect was to steal hawala money.
According to the police, the accused committed the crime to steal suspected hawala money concealed in hidden compartments in the car.
K. Unnikumar alias Raju (44) from Pillaiyarpuram at Podanur, C. Santhosh (36), S. Sandeep (32), C. Radhakrishnan (47) from Palakkad, C. Srijith (27) and M. Subin (29) from Thrissur were arrested on Sunday. Police recovered ₹ 5 lakh from the accused and remanded them in judicial custody.
ADVERTISEMENT
One of the special teams picked up Unnikumar based on specific information late on Saturday and he confessed to the crime during police questioning.
As per the confession of the accused, they intercepted the car travelled by Abdul Salam (50), a realtor from Malappuram, and his driver Shamsudheen at Navakkarai around 4 a.m. on December 25.
Mr. Salam had complained to the K.G. Chavadi police that unknown men took away the car and Rs. 27.5 lakh after assaulting him and his driver at Navakkarai when they were travelling from Bengaluru to Malappuram on December 25 morning. The police found the car abandoned at Madampatti the next day.
ADVERTISEMENT
When the car was inspected at K.G. Chavadi station, police found ₹ 60 lakh and ₹ 30 lakh in two secret compartments. The money, suspected to be for hawala transactions, was handed over to the Judicial Magistrate Court at Madukkarai.
The police have informed the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department about the seizure of the money.