The police have recovered 336 sovereigns of gold chains and solved seven major burglaries with the arrest of a Sri Lankan refugee, P. Sivarajan, 41, of Anaiyur.
Commissioner of Police S. Davidson Devasirvatham said here on Thursday that three special teams were formed. Major burglaries that led to theft of over 450 sovereigns of gold jewels were reported in S.S. Colony police station limits alone in the last 11 months. The police were able to get some images of the burglar through closed television camera networks.
Inspector of Police (Crime- S.S. Colony) M. Arunachalam, said the images were shared with other teams and one of their men found Sivarajan’s photograph matching them. During a vehicle check, the police identified him and tried to stop the two-wheeler he was riding. But he managed to escape. However, the police had more clues with the registration number of the vehicle. On November 4, he was caught at 1 a.m. during another vehicle check at Karimedu.
“There were about 60 burglary cases against him in 1990s after he reached here from Sri Lanka as a refugee. He was in jail in 2007-08. Later, he started to sell fish on the roadside and after he made some profits, set up his own shop,” the Inspector said.
However, when he wanted to expand his business, he ran short of money. “His friend Ravi alias ‘Bullet’ Ravi, 58, of Villapuram had advised him to get back to burglaries to make quick money. He wanted Sivarajan not to have any partners and strike locked houses alone,” the Inspector said.
Sivarajan would go around areas along Dindigul Bypass Road and look out for locked houses. “This, he used to do during late night when he comes out to buy fish at the Karimedu market. As the market opens for business after midnight, he will venture out an hour early and look for locked houses,” Mr. Arunachalam said.
Before going back to the market, he had struck seven houses and made a good fortune. He carried simple tools such as screw drivers and rods in his motorcycle. The burgled jewels were handed over to Ravi, who used to sell them or pledge them for Sivarajan.
He expanded his business by opening five fish shops in different parts of the city. Stating that he had lot of immovable properties, including the shops, the Inspector said that efforts were being taken to attach them.
