Police arrested today five members of a gang who kidnapped and robbed Rs 5.5 lakh from an employee of a jewellery shop here and recovered Rs 2.5 lakh from them.
They said the employee, Saravanan was asked to come to Chennai with the cash by his owner for purchasing jewels for Diwali sales.
The gang members followed Saravanan, who was on his way home on a bicycle, in a car yesterday and kidnapped him. Later, they pushed him off the car after snatching the bag containing the cash and fled with the booty, police said.
On a complaint from the employee, a special police team was formed who arrested the five and recovered Rs 2.5 lakh from them. A search is on for two more persons, including the king pin of the gang, police said.
