The accused would watch the hospital staff remove the valuables of the patients and hand them over to the relatives before they were taken into the operation theatre.
A person who was in the habit of stealing gold jewelleries from patients, particularly from those who are about to go in for surgery and their attendants in different hospitals was caught and close to 24 sovereigns were recovered from him on Friday. Following complaints from public that their valuables kept in bags and wallets in hospitals were missing, Inspector General and Commissioner of Police Sanjay Mathur formed special teams.
On Thursday, police, on patrol duty near Aravind Eye Hospital junction, spotted a person moving in the locality and took him for interrogation. Anna Nagar police team led by Inspector (crime) Murugadasson said that the person was identified as Muthukumar (35) son of Ramachandran of Indira Nagar Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district . The accused would watch the hospital staff remove the valuables of the patients and hand them over to the relatives before they were taken into the operation theatre. The accused would then flick the bag and escape from the spot unnoticed.
He had committed the offence not only in the Government Rajaji Hospital, but also in seven private hospitals. The accused was later produced before a judicial magistrate.
Keywords: Hospital thief, in-patients, gold jewelleries
