Coimbatore: A 30-member gang waylaid a police team from Kerala and freed a 41-year-old moneylender from their custody near Kaniyur Toll Plaza on the Salem -Coimbatore National Highway on Saturday night.The four-member police team was taking P Maharajan of Virugambakkam in Chennai to Kerala in connection with a case filed by a businessman there, Coimbatore rural police sources said. “Maharajan and his associates had loaned Rs 40 lakh to Philip, an Ernakulam-based realtor. Though he returned the amount with interest, Maharajan had been demanding more money from Philip. Based on Philip’s complaint, Palluruthy police had registered a case against the moneylender in March,” a police officer said.A special team led by sub-inspector Anish Kumar from the Palluruthy police station had arrested Maharajan from Virugambakkam on Saturday morning. “He was arrested under Section III read with 17 of the Kerala Money Lenders Act and Section 3 and 4 Prohibition of Charging Exorbitant Interest Act. The police team also arrested two of his associates. The team was taking the trio in a private car to Ernakulam. But they let off the moneylender’s associates about 40km away from Sriperumpudur on Saturday afternoon,” the officer told TOI.“When the car reached Kaniyur Toll Plaza around 11.30pm, 30 people in four cars waylaid the police team. They threatened the policemen — who were in uniform — and freed Maharajan from their custody. They immediately escaped from the spot along with the moneylender,” the officer added.But instead of alerting Coimbatore police, the policemen informed senior officers about the incident over phone after reaching Kerala. As per a senior officer’s advice, the police team lodged a complaint at the Karumathampatti police station on Sunday morning.Rural police have registered a case against the gang under sections 147, 341, 342, 332, 353 and 225 of the Indian Penal Code and formed a special team to investigate the incident. They have gathered CCTV footage from the toll plaza and other commercial establishments in the area.Police suspect the hand of the moneylender’s accomplices behind the incident.

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