The gang used to snatch mobile phones, their car was identified from CCTV footage
The gang used to snatch mobile phones, their car was identified from CCTV footage
The Greater Chennai Police, after analyzing CCTV footage and going into Instagram posts, took note of a 16-year-old girl who is believed to be the mastermind behind a gang of men involved in a series of robberies in the city.
On the evening of June 15, a youth riding a bike snatched a mobile phone from a woman and fled from the spot near a school in Gopalapuram. In the same area last Sunday, a couple who came on a bike snatched the mobile phone of a retired government employee. Both the cases were taken up for investigation by Royapettah police.
One such case came to light in Abhirampuram police station area on Saturday. Special teams were formed under Assistant Commissioner of Police, Royapettah.
They analyzed the CCTV footage to find out the registration number of the bike used by the suspects. Finally, a police team went to a petrol bunk and stumbled upon clear footage of suspects, who had allegedly created a ruckus and quarreled with the staff of the petrol bunk a few days back. He identified the vehicle used by him as one from Tiruttani.
Investigators shared the footage on WhatsApp called Chennai City Crime with city personnel who handled the investigation of the crime. One of the police personnel noticed that a suspect often posted videos and pictures on Instagram. “It was a major clue. We followed the suspect’s post and the suspect posted pictures with four other people at Marina Beach. So, we could continuously monitor and trace suspects close to Marina. One of them in a lodge And the picture was taken and shared on the page. The tile and curtain were clues to the lodge. We analyzed all the electronic trails and zeroed in on the suspects who were staying at the lodge and parked the stolen bikes,” a senior cop said the officer.
The police surrounded the gang. It was only after they surrounded them that the police came to know that one of them was a 16-year-old girl.
The arrested people have been identified by the police as 26-year-old M Vivek alias Kullah from Teynampet, 25-year-old V. Jagan, a resident of the platform, 24-year-old S Jagadeesan of Chidambaram and a 19-year-old girl from Shanmugapuram in Thoothukudi district. Following some code posted by the girl, the gang gathered at a designated place and was killed. They were involved in mobile phone robberies at Royapettah, Abirampuram, Thousand Lights, Guindy, Kotturpuram, Velachery, Egmore, Nungambakkam and other places.
Police have recovered seven mobile phones, one iPad and two bikes from them.