In what is suspected to be the handiwork of a lone burglar, six shops including three pharmacies, two grocery stores and an automobile spare parts store on a single stretch in Alwarthirunagar were targeted in the early hours of Monday.
Police have obtained CCTV footage showing a suspect. He is believed to have eventually fled with Rs. 70,000 from the shops.
According to police sources, the burglaries unfolded between 2 a.m. and 3.15 a.m. on Balaji Nagar and the adjoining Meenakshi Amman Nagar on Thiruvallur Salai which falls under both Koyambedu and Valasaravakkam police limits.
“The suspect seems to have used a crowbar to lift and break the shutter locks of the all the shops and gain access before reaching for the cash box. The patterns of the breaks-ins are more or less the same, thus raising the suspicion that it could be the work of a single person,” said an investigating officer.
The burglaries came to light on Monday morning after Balamurugan, the owner of the automobile spare parts store, came to open the shop for business and found the shutter locks broken. Of the six shops, the store suffered the most. Rs. 30,000 placed in the cashbox was missing, the officer added.
Investigators have obtained grabs from a CCTV camera placed in one of the medical shops which shows the black and white image of the suspect clad in a t-shirt and jeans. His face is seen covered with a handkerchief as he walks towards the shop and turns the camera away.