Iranian family of 9 held for robbing Somalia man in city

The victim, Ali Ahmed Muhamed (61) of Somalia, was in the city for an eye treatment. The incident happened during broad daylight on Tuesday (July 13) when he along with his friend, Abdul Ahid, were travelling in a cab from their lodge on Greams Road.

When they reached the model school road, a black car coming from the opposite direction stopped Muhamed’s car around 2.30 pm. Three men, who alighted from the car, allegedly told the victims that they were ‘central police’ and that they had received information that ganja was being smuggled in the car.

When the victim tried to clarify, the trio allegedly grabbed his wallet and took away 3,800 US dollars without touching the Indian currency and immediately sped away in the car. Based on the victim’s complaint, Thousand Lights police registered a case and launched a hunt for the gang with the help of CCTV footage. A special team led by Nungambakkam Assistant Commissioner Ravi Abiraam traced the suspects to a lodge in Kovalam.

However, there were six men, three women and three children aged 2, 8 and 9 years in the lodge. All of them were secured and investigation revealed that the gang operated like a family and moved to Chennai a month ago from Delhi to indulge in robberies. “The gang was already arrested in Bengaluru once for a similar offence,” said an official.

The accused were identified as Sabir Ali (35), Syavash Dinarvand (26), Rostam Seidi (28), Behruz Ali (35), Purush Ali Bana (56) and Binyamin (19) and three other women of Iran native. Police said that the family settled in Delhi at least a decade ago, though they claim to have moved to the national capital in 2019.

Further investigation is on whether the gang indulged in any other offences in the city.