Four held within 24 hours of Rs 23 crore diamond heist at Chennai Hotel
CHENNAI: A group of robbers who made away with a 23-crore diamond couldn't hold on to it for even a day. On Monday, Chennai police arrested four robbers as they fled to Tuticorin. The stolen diamond was also recovered from the gang.
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The four were identified as John Lloyd, 34, of Iyyappanthangal, S Vijay, 24, of Valasaravakkam, R Ratheesh, 28, of Thiruverkadu, and G Arun Pandiarajan, 32, of Paramakudi.
The robbers, masquerading as potential buyers had on Sunday met up with Chandrashekar, 69, an antique jewellery dealer from Anna Nagar at the Green Park Hotel at Vadapalani, promising to buy the diamond. The day before they had gone to his home to 'check the authenticity' of the gemstone, flaunting their expertise, which they had picked up from YouTube.
They asked him to visit their hotel to close the deal. Chandrashekar went to the hotel with his adopted daughter Janaki, friend Subramani, and his driver. While Janaki and the driver waited outside, Chandrashekar and Subramani entered the hotel room. Between 12.30pm and 3.30pm, Chandrashekar remained in touch with Janaki via phone, but she lost touch soon after. It turned out that the robbers asked Subramani to leave the room on the pretext of paying Chandrashekar a token advance.
The robbers then overpowered the dealer and tied him to a chair. Janaki rushed to the hotel room when she couldn't contact her father and found him tied up. She immediately alerted the hotel management and the police.
Deputy commissioner of police (T Nagar) S Kuthalingam formed four special teams under assistant commissioner V Gauthaman and inspector Srinivasan. The teams scrutinised CCTV camera footage from the hotel and traffic junctions, analysed cell tower data, and monitored toll booths for the suspects' movement.
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Initial leads indicated the involvement of a Sivakasi-based mastermind and a special team was dispatched to Sivakasi, while another team coordinated with Tuticorin district police.
The Tuticorin police, led by superintendent of police Albert John, intercepted the suspects at Pandiyapuram check-post in Pudur. Police said the four men were involved in the used automobile business, and conspired to steal the diamond after shadowing Chandrashekar for a month.
The suspects purchased testing kits and gadgets through an online portal before carrying out the crime. They used two middlemen to gain access to the dealer. Police are probing the role of the owner of the getaway car. "We will question Chandrashekar on how he came into possession of the stone," a senior officer said.
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