Kasargod, Aug 28: The police have arrested a young footballer in connection with the robbery of whopping Rs 5.26 crore suspected hawala money and continued manhunt for nine more suspects.
The incident that occurred recently under the limits of Vidyanagar police station, here, was initially suspected to be the handiwork of professional dacoits. With the arrest of Mrudul, it has emerged to be the act of novices who took to crime to strike gold overnight. Renil from Kuthuparambha is the brain behind the heist, Mrudul is said to have told the investigators.
Mrudul has also revealed the names of another footballer Tuttu, Sayaz and Renil and he seems to be unaware of name and wherabouts of another person in the same gang that hatched the plot.
Interestingly, Prajesh also from Kuthuparamba and driver of the car in which hawala amount was being transported, is also a co-conspirator in the case.
Mrudul got his share of Rs 20 lakh after the robbery. Accordingly, the police suspect that all others, involved in the case, may have pocketed a similar share.
On August 6, Mrudul and Tuttu were playing at football grounds in Kuthuparamaba, when the latter asked former about his interest in making a windfall. Tuttu told Mrudul about hawala money being easy target, for the only reason that nobody would dare to complain to police in the event of any theft.
Prajesh was working as a driver for Khattam Vikas Dhanu, a gold merchant hailing from Maharashtra, and a resident of Thalassery. On that day, Prajesh informed suspects in the case about bringing the money in Maruti Ertiga, a multiutility vehicle from Pune in Maharashtra to Kerala. Ganesh, an assistant of Dhanu, was the only other person in the car at that time.
As planned, the suspects were waiting in a Ritz car at Talapady. As soon as the Ertiga passed through Talapady, the suspects started to follow the vehicle. After reaching a slopy road near Thekkil, the Ritz car rear hit Ertiga, only to bring both the vehicles into a sudden halt. While one of the suspects held Ganesh at gun point, others sprayed something on the face of Ganesh leaving him unconscious. They later decamped with cash.
Though the incident occurred on August 7, the complaint was lodged on August 20, owing to lack of documents. It was only after retrieving documents for Rs 2.70 crore a complaint was lodged. It was only during the course of investigation, the exact amount was tallied at Rs 5.26 crore.
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