Chennai sees 11 robberies in one day

TNN, Jun 7, 2010, 04.20am IST

CHENNAI: As many as 11 robberies and thefts were reported in the city on Saturday, with the total loot amounting to 37.5 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 25 kg of silver, Rs 5.93 lakh in cash and Rs 48,000 worth other valuables.

The most daring of the robberies happened in Kolathur, where burglars drilled a hole into the wall of a jewellery shop -- Rishi Jewellery on Redhills Road -- and escaped with 25 kg of silver jewellery, one sovereign gold, apart from some cash. The incident came to light on Sunday morning when an employee arrived to clean the shop. The front door was intact, but when he saw the empty jewellery display cases, he panicked and informed the owner Amit Surana.

According to police, Surana rushed to the shop immediately and found a hole drilled into the rear wall. The burglars had taken advantage of the construction work going on behind the shop. "Gold jewellery worth lakhs of rupees were saved as the jeweller had kept them in a strong box before he left for the day on Saturday. But they managed to take 25 kg of silver jewellery apart from other valuables. We have formed four special teams headed by an assistant commissioner of police (Anna Nagar) and three inspectors (Villivakkam, Rajamangalam and Kolathur). They have been assigned to nab the culprits," Anna Nagar deputy commissioner of police S Paneerselvam told TOI. Surana, who lives Royapettah, had opened the shop only recently, on the Akshaya Tritiya day.

While at Rajamangalam, burglars broke into a house of software engineer Jai Ganesh Babu (26), while he was visiting Sai Baba's ashram in Puttaparthi with his family members. He returned on Saturday and found the lock of the main door broken open. About 15 sovereigns of gold jewellery had been stolen.

In another incident at Ice House, 11 sovereigns of gold went missing from the house of one Vijayakumar who returned to Chennai after attending a relative's wedding. He suspected the handiwork of a family member, who he said was present when he kept the jewellery in the bureau.

In yet another incident at JJ Nagar, civil engineer Ramalakshmi of Ambattur returned from a private builder in Velachery after collecting Rs 1 lakh in cash for the work she had completed at a construction site at Mogappair. She gave Rs 10,000 to her labourers in Thirumangalam and then headed towards Mogappair to distribute salary to contract labourers at another construction site. As she neared Ambattur Industrial Estate, she realised her laptop bag (which also contained the remaining Rs 90,000 in cash) which was hanging from her bike had gone missing. She lodged a complaint at JJ Nagar police station.

In KK Nagar, one lodged a police complaint against a laundry man as he had left Rs 34,000 in cash inside a silk saree which he had given for dry cleaning. In Mylapore, burglars broke open a bunk shop and decamped with Rs 15,000 in cash. In another incident at Stanley Medical College Hospital, one Athira Roy who went to meet his relative admitted there later found the windshield of his car broken open and stereo worth Rs 8,000 missing. In an incident at Elephant Gate, one Logeshwari, who was travelling in an MTC bus (route number 34), she Rs 2,000 missing from her bag. The burglars cut the bag open.

Gnanaprakasam of Abiramapuram, who dozed off on Saturday afternoon leaving his door because of the heat found 7.5 sovereign gold jewels missing from the cupboard. In Elephant Gate, Kali Prasad of Sowcarpet lost a package containing 60 mobile phones worth Rs 4.5 lakh when he went to the parcel booking centre on Saturday to send the consignment to Kolkata. In Elephant Gate, two men intercepted a woman and robbed her three-sovereign gold chain.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Chennai-sees-11-robberies-in-one-day/articleshow/6018182.cms