Coimbatore : Six persons were arrested Monday on charges of looting Rs 13 lakh from two youths, impersonating as officials from vigilance department, in the city five days ago.

A gang in two cars had waylaid the duo, Abhinesh and Naushad, from Thalassery, who had come to purchase gold ornaments by car, and taken Rs13 lakh from them on July 17.

The youth were asked to collect the money after showing proper documents in the vigilance office. However, realising that they were cheated, the youths lodged a complaint with the police,

Three special police teams were formed to nab the culprits. After going through CCTV footage and also tracking their mobile phones, police traced the gang members in Madukkarai on Monday morning, police said.

The arrested were Jaleel from Athur in Palakkad, the mastermind of the robbery, Ajit and Aravindam both from Thrissur, Padmanabhan, kamalesh and Natarajan all three from the city.

Police recovered Rs 8.40 lakh and two cars valued at Rs 15 lakh from their possession. A hunt is on for six more persons involved in the case.