Thiruvananthapuram | Business rivalry is suspected to be the motive behind the robbery of nearly two kg of gold from a jewellery shop owner at Chalai here, with investigators suspecting that the crime was planned to damage the victim's business interests, police sources said on Sunday.
Five people were detained on Saturday in connection with the incident.
Three of them, allegedly directly involved in executing the robbery, were intercepted at Padinjarathara in Wayanad, while two others suspected of being part of the conspiracy were taken into custody in Thiruvananthapuram.
The three detained in Wayanad were identified as Anoop Raj, Anil Prasad and Vinod Antony, all residents of Thiruvananthapuram.
Rajeev, who had allegedly joined the group in Wayanad to arrange accommodation for them, was later released after being served a notice, sources said.
Police are searching for another accused, Sravan, who managed to escape before the other three suspects were intercepted in Wayanad.
Amul and Dileep, suspected of being part of the conspiracy, were taken into custody in Thiruvananthapuram, sources said.
According to the investigation, the robbery was allegedly planned to damage the business of Nandakumar, who has been running a gold business in Chalai for the past 30 years.
There were business transactions between Amul and Nandakumar.
Anoop had allegedly been given a quotation for stealing the gold.
Investigators suspect that differences arising from business dealings led to the conspiracy, with Anil allegedly hired to execute the robbery, police said.
Sravan allegedly monitored Nandakumar's movements and passed information to Anil.
Anil and Vinod allegedly snatched the gold bag from Nandakumar and fled on a motorcycle.
They later reached the Thiruvananthapuram bypass, abandoned the motorcycle and shifted to a car.
Anoop also joined the group, sources said.
The gang initially travelled to Tamil Nadu. After realising that police were pursuing them, they moved to Karnataka. However, on learning that a Kerala Police team had reached the state, they shifted to Wayanad, police said.
In Wayanad, they contacted Rajeev to arrange accommodation. He subsequently joined the group, sources said.
Acting on information provided by the investigation team, Wayanad police intercepted the vehicle at Padinjarathara.
The three suspects detained there were shifted to the state capital for further questioning, sources said.
Police recovered a gold bar weighing 448 grams from the vehicle used by the accused.
Sravan managed to escape before the police intercepted the vehicle, and efforts are underway to trace him.
Nandakumar (50) was returning home on his electric scooter after closing his shop around 10.35 pm on Thursday.
While travelling from Chalai towards Marakkada Road, two helmeted men on a motorcycle approached him from behind and snatched a black bag containing the gold, police said.
The stolen gold was valued at approximately Rs 2.6 crore, according to the FIR.
A case was registered at Fort police station under Sections 304 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Police tracked the vehicle used by the accused soon after the incident and found that it had crossed into Tamil Nadu, officials said.
CCTV footage from various toll plazas was also collected as part of the investigation, sources said.
The accused will be interrogated after being brought to Fort police station and will later be produced before the court, police said.
