2 weeks Ago By A Selvaraj
Image used for representational purpose only CHENNAI : A 32-year-old man, who had brought Rs.2 crore worth of gold illegally from Dubai, concealing the valuable inside his anus, was kidnapped and detained by a gang in a lodge in Triplicane for almost four months, as he didn’t have the gold when he was brought to the lodge. Police have solved the case by arresting five suspects, including a lodge owner, on Friday.
The arrested were identified as Imran, 28, who owns the lodge in Chepauk; Asif Payas, 23, of Chepauk; Mohammad Aalam Afgan, 28; Gopi Kannan, 36, of Madurai; and the lodge room service staff Varundharadas, 40, of Odisha. The rescued victim , Sajimon, 32, of Kanyakumari, has been admitted to the Omandurar Govt General Hospital for the burn injuries on his palms, bruises under his eye, and visible wounds all over his body. Inquiries revealed that the victim, Sajimon, who worked as an electrician in Dubai, told the gang members that he had handed over the smuggled gold bars to another gang outside the Chennai airport as soon as he landed at the airport.
Further inquiries revealed that Sajimon told them he left the three gold bars inside the washroom, fearing being apprehended by the alert customs officials who were patrolling inside the airport. As he gave contradictory statements to the gang, they suspected him of being hand in glove with the smugglers and handing over the gold bars to someone known to him who was waiting outside the airport. During questioning, Sajimon told police that he ventured his luck to work as a ‘kuruvi’ after he didn’t get any proper job in April this year.
He joined as a ‘kuruvi’ through a common friend named Benny Malick, whom he had befriended at his workplace. Malick informed Sajimon of an assignment to smuggle three gold bars worth Rs.2 crore from Dubai to Chennai, and he was promised Rs.
5 lakh as commission on his successful mission. When he was waiting outside the airport, four men escorted him to a car and took him to the lodge in Chepauk, where they examined his anus and found the gold bars were missing. When they asked him about the gold bars, he gave contradictory statements.
Following this, they illegally detained him in the lodge room and harassed him to return the missing gold..
