Wayanad: Six men from Kannur were arrested on Thursday for robbing Rs 20 lakh from the passengers on a car on the highway at Meenangadi here on the night of December 7.

The accused are Aramban Veettil Kuttappan alias Jijil, 35, a native of Cherukunnu, Edachery Veettil R Anilkumar, 33, a native of Pariyaram, Jishnu Nivas PK Jithin, 25, a native of Padanilam, Kavinissery Veettil K Amal, 26, native of Koodali, Edachery Veettil R Ajithkumar, 33, a native of Pariyaram and Puthalath Veettil R Akhilesh, 21, a native of Pallippoyil.

The police team supervised by District Police Chief Padam Singh and led by Sulthan Bathery DySP KK Abdul Shereef took the accused into custody from Kannur.

Kozhikode natives Maqbool and Nasser were robbed by the gang when they were returning with the money from Chamarajanagar in Karnataka. Their travel plans were leaked by a contact and the accused waited to intercept at Meenangadi

According to the complainants, the accused, who were in three cars, waylaid their vehicle at fled with the money.

The breakthrough in the investigation came after the cyber cell tracked the movement of a pack of mobile gadgets from the spot towards Kannur. The mobile phone conversations of the accused before and after the crime were subjected to close perusal and the CDR (Call Detail Record) data of the accused also helped in fixing the crime, the police said.

The special team that made the arrests comprised Meenangadi Station House Officer PJ Kuriakose, Sulthan Bathery SHO MA Santhosh, Sub Inspectors Ramkumar C, NV Hareeshkumar and KT Mathew and Additional Sub Inspectors Biju Varghese among others.