In a sensational incident, two robbers who took away 5.292 kilograms of gold jewellery from Muthoot Fincorp in the busy South Gate area here on Saturday, were caught by the public and a traffic policeman after a hot chase.
All the jewels were recovered from them. However, an accomplice of the two made good his escape.
Police said at around 3 p.m., three persons, brandishing aruvals, barged into Muthoot Fincorp office, and forced the staff to open the safety locker and the chest room where the jewels were kept. Within 20 minutes, the robbers went out of the premises with the jewels, and some employees raised the alarm.
The public and the traffic policeman, Sivanandam, immediately came to know that something was wrong there, and rushed to the spot.
They caught two robbers within a few minutes, while one managed to escape. The packets containing the jewels were recovered from the duo.
Initially, the police were clueless about the exact weight of the jewels that were taken away from the finance firm office, but the employees told them the correct weight of the jewels. “It was a 100 per cent recovery,” an officer at the spot said.
Inspector General and Commissioner of Police (Madurai City) Sanjay Mathur said initial probe suggested that the robbers were from Kamudhi in Ramanathapuram district. “We are investigating them. We have to find out whether they were first-time offenders or habitual offenders, and whether they have any connivance with any employee of the branch of the firm,” he added.
Traffic policeman Sivanandam communicated the incident over mike, which enabled the police to rush teams to the spot instantly, Mr.Mathur said.
About a year back, 37 kilograms of gold was taken away by robbers from Muthoot Fincorp in Ponnagaram. The police arrested 10 persons and recovered all the gold soon after the incident.
