Masked robbers struck at the house of a Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and robbed him of 22 sovereigns of gold at knife point near here early Sunday.
The police suspect that robbers had used gas welding kit to break open an iron grille gate and burn the locked wooden door of the house at Pandian Nagar, an isolated place along the Srivilliputtur-Rajapalayam highway.
The culprits, said to be five in number, took the VAO of Valaikulam, K. Palanichamy (55) and his wife, Dhanushkodi, by surprise when they were fast asleep around 2 a.m.
“When they were woken up, the couple found the robbers holding knives and machetes around them,” a police source said.
The gang forced the couple to part with the gold jewellery and snatched Rs. 5,000. They also took away a TV set with them.
The police said that the robbers had masked their faces and the helpless couple surrendered and followed their instructions.
The Superintendent of Police, S. Maheswaran, who inspected the scene of crime, said that the culprits had left behind one of the caps, a bedsheet and a bag of tools including spanner and screw-drivers.
Three special teams have been formed to nab the robbers, he added. The Vanniyapatti police are investigating the case.
