A couple from Vellore in Tamil Nadu was arrested by the RMC Yard police on Saturday for allegedly hijacking a tomato-laden truck with three of their associates after abducting the farmer on the pretext of road rage, from Ring Road on July 8.
Mallesh, a farmer from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district, had filed a police complaint, and a special 20-member team was formed to track down the accused.
The special team analysed over 200 CCTV footage to identify the accused and arrested Bhaskar, 28, and his wife Sindhuja, 26. The police are on the lookout for their associates, identified as Rakesh, Kumar, and Mahesh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North division), Shivaprakash Devaraju, said.
Investigation revealed that the accused were suspected to be a part of the road robbery gang that confronted the farmer, who was heading to Kolar to sell his tomato load from Hiriyur. The accused, who claimed that their vehicle was damaged by the farmer’s truck, tried to rob him, but realised that he did not have money. They changed their plan and decided to hijack his truck.
As per the plan, they took him along with the truck, assaulted him and pushed him out on the Ring Road before driving away with the truck that was loaded with 2.5 tonnes of tomato to Chennai where they sold it in the market and shared the money.
The accused later abandoned the truck near Peenya.
Based on the CCTV footage, the police zeroed in on Bhaskar and his wife and arrested them. The police also recovered the car used by the accused in the crime.
The police have taken the couple into custody and are looking into their criminal background and possible involvement in similar cases.
