Kancheepuram cops on Saturday laid a trap and arrested four persons near Vandalur on charges of attempting to extort money from a panchayat chief.
Police said Johnson panchayat president of Kumily, near Guduvancherry, received an anonymous call and the caller demanded `2 lakh from him on Friday. The caller threatened that he would take the lives of Johnson, his son and daughter if the money was not paid and if he alerted the police. Johnson knocked the doors of Kancheepuram Superintendent of Police S Manohara, who had a special team set up to nab the culprits. Johnson, as instructed by the police, called up the anonymous person on the mobile number to inform him that he would be able to pay only `1 lakh so that the police could trace the call origin. But, the conversation was not adequately long to fix the location of the anonymous caller. Subsequently, Johnson called up the person again who informed him that the cash should be handed over to a duo who would be waiting at Kandigai bus stop, about 10 km from Tambaram. Accordingly, Johnson went to the bus stop and found two men, who identified themselves as the representatives of the caller. The special police team, which was watching the entire episode hiding in other vehicles, stormed the scene and surrounded the duo. On witnessing this sudden turn of events, two others who were having tea in a nearby shop took to their heels. They were also caught by the special team policemen after a short chase.
Police identified the quartet as Venkatesan, a resident of Keerapakkam who had murder case pending against him, Yuvraj, of Chengalpet, Dinakaran, of Hanumanthapuram, both painters, and Nithyanandan, a lorry driver of Patraivakkam. Preliminary investigations revealed that the plan was hatched by Venkatesan to make a quick buck.
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