Police constable arrested for stealing gold from ‘Kuruvi’

CHENNAI: A constable with Chennai police was on Monday arrested for stealing 500 grams gold, worth nearly Rs.25 lakh from a ‘Kuruvi’ who smuggled the gold, concealed in a microwave oven from Dubai last week.

The constable, D Vimal (39) would have gotten scot-free had the persons to whom the gold was intended to be handed over to had not taken law into their own hands and kidnapped the courier, P Anandraj and confined him in a city lodge.

Police investigations revealed that the constable had worked in cahoots with a gold smuggler for some time now and had helped these couriers to escape screening by authorities by throwing names of senior police officers.

P Anandraj (34), a native of RK Pet in Thiruvallur district went to Dubai in April last year, where he worked as a painter and drove cabs. Anandraj, who was traveling back home was approached by a man in Dubai who told him to handover a microwave oven to persons waiting at Chennai airport and was told that he would be given Rs 10,000 for the same and they will take care of his flight expenses.

However, the courier had different plans and on reaching Chennai airport on Wednesday (September 7), he colluded with his brothers and planned to keep the gold for themselves. The group had dismantled the oven in the presence of the constable and since they could not locate the gold, Anandraj left to his hometown.

On Thursday (September 8) morning, a gang kidnapped Anandraj from his home and then made him call his brothers. The brothers were assaulted mercilessly at a brick kiln in Arcot and then brought them to Chennai and confined at a lodge in Arumbakkam, police said.

In the room, the gang assaulted the brothers and made them strip completely. “They then took photographs and videos in the victims’ phone and kept them as their whatsapp status for a brief while, ” a police officer said.

On Friday morning, on hearing the captives’ noises, other occupants in the lodge alerted the police after which they were rescued.

Five persons were arrested by the Arumbakkam police on Saturday in connection with the incident. The prime accused, P Hidayatullah (40) of Karaikal owns a restaurant there. Other accused were identified as Ravikumar (36), Balagan (29), Dinesh (28) and Ravikumar (25).

Meanwhile, further investigations led police to the constable, Vimal and his friends, Vinoth Kumar and Shyam from Vepery. Vimal had retrieved the gold which was concealed in a coil inside the oven.

Police seized Rs 10 lakh cash and 400 grams of gold from the trio. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.