A three-member gang allegedly robbed cash and valuables from a beauty parlour in Anna Nagar here on Sunday evening. When one of the employees warned that they would be arrested as the surveillance cameras had captured their images, the accused dismantled and took away the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) network.
According to police sources, the accused persons walked into the parlour located on the second main road around 6.30 p.m. on Sunday and wanted to have a hair cut and a facial.
After the service was over, one of the employees presented the bill of over Rs. 1,000. Irked over this, the accused entered into a heated argument with the cashier.
In the melee that followed, they brandished knives and locked up two employees Jeena (22) and Rakesh (26) in a room. They snatched a nine-sovereign gold chain from another employee Merghese (22) at knife-point. When one of the accused took Rs. 50,000 from the cash box, the woman warned that police would arrest him and others as their images were recorded in the CCTV network.
The suspects immediately dismantled the cameras and data recorder. After threatening the victim not to raise an alarm, they escaped with the booty that included the cameras and other surveillance gadgets. Based on a complaint, the Anna Nagar police have registered a case.
Fingerprint experts and sniffer dogs inspected the scene of crime. The employees of the parlour said the accused persons were strangers and they had not seen any of them before, the sources said adding that the salon was owned by one Sheela (31) of Narayana Street in Pudupet.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Anna Nagar) Prem Anand Sinha who inspected the scene formed four special teams to investigate the case. “The case could have been detected easily had the woman not warned the accused persons about the CCTV network. We still have some vital clues that may help in solving the case. We have developed a portrait of the suspects based on the inputs given by the parlour staff,” Mr. Sinha said.
