Three foreigners have been lodged in Salem Central prison for allegedly stealing nine gold rings from a jewellery shop at Puthragoundanpalayam village in the district.
According to police, the three, possessing the photocopy of documents issued by the Republic of Georgia, were on their way to Puducherry from Goa on Friday evening when they stopped their car near the jewellery shop. Two of them – Lukebarizve (37) and Kakzha Jotchishvu (39) – went inside the shop under the pretext of buying a gold ring.
As the shop owner was busy attending other customers, the two were said to have snatched a pouch that contained the gold rings and sped away in the car driven by Lukebarizve wife Nana Dolizve (32). The shop owner and his friends chased the car in two-wheelers.
However, the car got stranded at a manned railway crossing. The villagers caught hold of the three and handed them over to the Ethapur police. The stolen rings were seized from a bush near-by.
DSP S. Eswaran told The-Hindu that a case under Section 379 (for theft) of the Indian Penal Code had been registered against them. “Since they possessed the photocopy of their passports and visas issued by Georgian government, we have informed the sleuths of Intelligence Bureau and our senior officials in Chennai.”
The police traced the car owner to Goa and informed him of the incident. But he had not responded so far, the DSP said. The luxury car, Rs. 80000 in cash and a few valuables were also seized from them. They were produced before an Attur court which remanded them to judicial custody on Saturday night.
Prison sources said that they would soon be transferred to Puzhal Prison in Chennai for “administrative reasons.”
