Two unidentified men allegedly gagged a 60-year-old woman outside her house in Valasaravakkam on Thursday morning and robbed her of a 20-sovereign chain. Sources with the Valasaravakkam police said at 6.30 p.m., the victim, Saroja (60) of Velan Street, West Kamakoti Nagar, walked up to the main gate of her house to collect milk packets left by the vendor. Two men grabbed Saroja's hand. One covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming while the other removed her gold chain. The duo pushed her and ran to the end of the road and fled on a motorcycle parked there, sources added.
Saroja screamed for help following which her husband, Azhagu Solaimalai, a retired police officer, and a few youngsters staying on the first floor tried to catch the suspects. But, they sped away e, police said.
House and shop burgled
Burglars struck at a shop and a house on the same street in Perambur on Wednesday night and decamped with gold jewellery and cash. Sembium police said the burglary took place at the medical store of Balasubramanium (67), a retired government employee, on Kamarajar Nagar 8th Street. The burglars broke open the shutter lock and fled with Rs.10,000 from the cashbox.
On the same street, the locked house of Chittibabu (42) was targeted the same night when he and his wife had gone out. They returned on Thursday morning to find the locks of the house broken and Rs.50,000 in cash and six sovereigns of jewellery missing, police added.
Chain snatched from woman
A gold chain was snatched from a 58-year-old woman by a youth at a crowded bus stop in Purasawalkam on Wednesday evening.
Secretariat Colony police said Kasturi of Otteri was waiting for a bus to return home after shopping in the area. A bus reached the stop and several people tried to get in. In the meantime, a man in the crowd snatched the five-sovereign chain Kasturi was wearing. When the victim raised an alarm, the culprit ran into a waiting autorickshaw and fled from the spot, police added.
Domestic help arrested
Korukkupet police on Wednesday arrested a 42-year-old woman on charges of stealing gold jewellery from her employer. Police sources said the suspect, Sushila of Korukkupet, was a domestic help at the house and school run by Madhubala (40) in Ekambaram Street, Korukkupet. Sushila, who was working with the complainant for the last three years, had stolen small pieces of jewellery on many occasions in the last three months. Following a police complaint by Madhubala, an investigation was conducted and Sushila was found to be the culprit. Jewellery weighing 15 sovereigns was recovered from her, sources added.
Man falls from building
A 54-year-old man slipped and fell off the third floor of a building in Adyar on Wednesday afternoon. He succumbed to his wounds in a private hospital on Thursday. The victim, Mohammadulla, a resident of Indira Nagar, was responding to his wife's call for lunch when he slipped off the railings of the balcony. A case has been registered under Section 174.
Redwood seized
Redwood worth over Rs.1.5 lakh was seized in Red Hills on Wednesday by the police during a routine vehicle check.
When the police tried to intercept a jeep around 11 a.m., the vehicle jumped the barricades and sped away. It finally rammed a lorry near the Palavoyal Road junction in Red Hills and halted. The driver of the vehicle fled. The Madhavaram traffic police have filed a case and referred it to the Forest Department.
