Woman outsmarts burglars; 80 sovereigns of gold safe

They fail to fish out jewels from hideouts chosen by the elderly woman

Forensic expert at work in a house where burglars had rummaged through all cupboards at Tiruppalai in the city on Monday.— Photo: G. Moorthy

The practical knowledge of an elderly woman, G. Meera, in safe keeping of gold jewellery saved over 640 grams of gold and Rs. 77,000 which otherwise could have fallen in the hands of unidentified burglars who struck their locked house at Tiruppalai on Sunday night.

The woman’s son, G. Kannan Babu and his wife, were visibly shattered to see their house broken open when they returned from Chennai on Monday morning. For, they had left behind nearly 100 sovereigns of gold, all belonging to Babu’s younger sister, when they left home on Friday.

Babu was speechless when he saw that all the articles, drawers, cupboards, almirahs and other containers in all the rooms in the one-storey house were strewn around. The burglars had rummaged through all possible areas where people normally hide the valuables.

“My sister, working in Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, had given me all her jewels to be pledged as she required Rs. 10 lakh to show as bank deposit for her visit to the US. In the meantime, we went to Chennai to attend a family function, leaving the jewels behind,” Babu said.

“The thieves had left behind three bottles of liquor indicating that they had consumed liquor and remained at home for a long time,” one of the neighbours, R. Sethuraman, said.

The family was worried to reveal about the burglary at home to Meera, a heart patient, who was at Chennai.

Without telling her about the incident that had happened at home, they brought her.

The woman was asked to take out the jewels which she had kept. “Other family members were unaware of this,” Mr. Sethuraman said. The woman took out the jewels, kept bundled in small quantities, one by one from various places.

“At least 644 grams of gold and Rs. 77,000 were recovered during the search late in the afternoon,” a family friend said.

At the end, it was found the family had lost eight sovereigns of gold, two diamond-studded rings, a platinum ring and Rs. 20,000.

The city police pressed into service a sniffer dog that ran up to an autorickshaw stand in the neighbourhood. Forensic experts have lifted finger prints from the scene of crime. The Tallakulam police are investigating.