CHENNAI: The waylaying and robbing of a trader carrying 20 lakh by a four-member gang on Tuesday turned sensational on Wednesday as the culprits were identified as three serving income tax inspectors and a sub-inspector attached to Triplicane police station. All the arrested income tax inspectors Pradeep, 40, Damodharan, 38, and Prabhu, 41, and special sub-inspector Raja Singh, 38 were remanded in judicial custody.
Police said H Mohammad Ghouse of Washermenpet with 20 lakh was going on his bike to buy a CT scan machine for a businessman, Juniad Ahmed of Vamiyambadi, when Raja Singh intercepted him near Tamil Nadu govt super-speciality hospital at Omandurar Estate and sought to examine his bags. Finding the cash bundles, the SSI demanded that Ghouse show receipts for the money. He then snatched Ghouse’s phone and alerted someone on his phone. Three more people arrived.
They displayed identity cards showing them as income tax department officials and forced him into a car. At Institute of Child Health Hospital in Egmore, they threatened Ghouse with a knife and snatched his cash. They dropped him off and asked him to come to Aayakar Bhavan in Nungambakkam to collect the cash by producing necessary documents.
Ghouse informed Junaid Ahmed who advised him to lodge a police complaint.
After registering a case, officers scanned CCTV footage along the route and tracked down the suspects. During questioning, Raja Singh narrated the sequence of events and identified himself and the other three. He said they targeted Mohammad Ghouse as they believed he was carrying large sums of unaccounted money.
A team of police personnel checked I-T officer Prabhu’s house and recovered the robbed 20 lakh. Inquiries revealed that the four planned to split the booty equally. Police are probing if they were involved in similar robberies.
