Men made away with gold jewellery weighing 70 sovereigns, 1.5 kg of silver items and close to Rs. 2 lakh in cash from a house in Valasaravakkam on Sunday night.
The suspects gained access to the house by cutting through a grill gate and breaking open two doors.
Sources with the Valasaravakkam police said the burglary took place at the residence of Thenraj (35), a businessman dealing in inverters, on Seyon Street, Madurai Meenakshi Nagar where he resides with his family.
Four days ago, Thenraj left for Kerala on business. His wife Radha (31) along with their children Shahana and Kishore went to her parents’ house in Thiruthani, while Thenraj’s father Karuppusamy (67) stayed back.
As his daughter, who resides in nearby Sridevi Kuppam, fell ill, Karuppusamy had gone to her house around 4 p.m. on Sunday after locking all the doors and the grille gate of the house.
“My father returned to the house around 6 a.m. on Monday morning and found the iron gate in the front cut open and the doors broken. Gold jewellery weighing 70 sovereigns, 1.5 kg of silver items, over Rs. 1.5 lakh and a hundi were missing from an almirah,” Thenraj’s brother Senthil Kumar told The Hindu .
The burglars had brought duplicate keys for opening the almirah but did not have to use them as the almirah had been locked and the keys placed on top of it. The culprits stole the valuables and abandoned the duplicate keys in the house.
The Valasaravakkam police team carried out a preliminary probe and have registered a case of burglary.
A year ago, a burglar struck at Thenraj’s house in the night and attempted to steal a gold chain from a woman resident. But he was caught red-handed and handed over to the Valasaravakkam police, sources said.