Days after a daylight highway heist of nearly Rs. one crore worth jewellery in Tamil Nadu, a woman and her son have been arrested in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and a major portion of the loot recovered from them, the police said today.
Crime wing police in Tirupati arrested Shama, 46, and her son Mohammed Salim, of Tiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu, on Thursday after they were found moving in a suspicious manner with a huge bag at a pilgrim accommodation centre.
The police said they recovered about Rs. 60 lakh worth gold and silver jewels from the two.
On January 7, a 10-member gang had driven away a car with Rs. 98.05 lakh worth jewellery belonging to Kerala-based Kalyan Jewellers after waylaying the vehicle and dragging out two employees of the firm at KG Chavadi near Coimbatore.
The gold and silver jewels were being transported from Thrissur in Kerala to Coimbatore when they were looted.
Ms Shama's another son, Firoz, along with his friends allegedly committed the heist and after sharing a quantity of the booty among his friends, he handed over the rest to her and his brother in Tiruvallur, the police said.
Since then, the two had been trying to sell the jewels and arrived in Tirupati two days ago.
The police said their counterparts in Coimbatore had been informed about the arrest and the two would be taken there after obtaining a transit remand from a court here.
Coimbatore police said the recovered jewellery was part of the stolen gold and silver ornaments and they were already interrogating six people in connection with the crime.
