A screengrab of the assailants trying to attack Siddique’s car on the Salem-Kochi Highway.
The Coimbatore District Police on Sunday arrested four persons, who were part of a gang that waylaid a Kerala-bound car on the Salem–Kochi highway in the wee hours of Friday and attempted to attack three passengers with weapons.
Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police V. Badrinarayanan said that the police had also identified four other persons who were involved in the incident. The arrested persons are – K. Sivadas, 29; Ramesh Babu, 27; and M. Vishnu, 28 from Chittur; and M. Ajay, 24, from Nallepilly. Both the places are in Kerala’s Palakkad district.
The #Coimbatore District Police have arrested four persons hailing from #Palakkad, who waylaid the car of an Ernakulam native near Madukkarai on Salem – Kochi highway in the early hours of June 14 and attempted to assault them with weapons. Two others at large. @THChennaipic.twitter.com/1ugxuWkxuG
— Wilson Thomas (@wilson__thomas) June 16, 2024
According to police, the assailants had chased the car of the complainant, Aslam Siddique, 27, of Ernakulam, in three vehicles and attacked it with weapons, 200 metres before a toll plaza near Madukkarai. However, Mr. Siddique and two of his friends managed to speed away, knocking down the doors of a vehicle, which the assailants had used to waylay Mr. Siddique’s car.
Videos of the assailants chasing and attacking the car, captured by the rear and the dash cameras of Mr. Siddique’s car, were widely circulated on social media.
The police said that when Mr. Siddique managed to reach the toll plaza, the assailants stopped chasing him and fled.
Unaccounted cash
Mr. Siddique and his friends narrated the incident to the highway police after crossing the plaza. “It was found that the accused had received an information that the targeted car was carrying unaccounted cash. However, the information seemed to have been wrong,” said Mr. Badrinarayanan.
The police did not find any unaccounted cash in Mr. Siddique’s car. It was learnt that Mr. Siddique, who is into advertising business, was returning from Bengaluru after purchasing computers and peripherals. Besides arresting the four men from their native district, the police seized the three cars used by the gang. Vishnu was serving in the Army, and had come to his native on leave on April 4. He, however, did not return to his posting centre after holidays, the police said.
“The remaining accused in the case will be nabbed soon,” the SP said.
