Chennai: Posing as delivery agents, UP duo goes on recce for houses to burgle; arrested
The family noticed that the apartment had been broken into and the intruders had decamped with gold and silver articles from the lockers.
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CHENNAI: Disguised as a delivery agent, who are now omnipresent, a career criminal from Uttar Pradesh roamed the city streets with his accomplice to zero in on potential targets. The Saidapet police have arrested the UP duo for breaking into the apartment of a retired railway employee and stealing 32 sovereign gold jewellery and silver articles.
N Thiyagarajan (58) lives with his family in an apartment complex on Bhujanga Rao Street in Saidapet. They left for Puttur, in Andhra Pradesh, for a temple visit on September 8 and returned home the same night.
The family noticed that the apartment had been broken into and the intruders had decamped with gold and silver articles from the lockers.
Based on a complaint by Thiyagarajan, the Saidapet police registered a case and began investigations into the burglary. On perusing the CCTV footage, police zeroed in on the suspects.
After investigations, the police arrested Sham Mohammed (35) and Noor Islam (32), both hailing from Uttar Pradesh. The investigation revealed that Sham Mohammed has six criminal cases against him in his state.
"The arrested persons had come to Chennai along with two other accomplices and stayed at a lodge near Central railway station. Using their local contacts, they took up delivery agent jobs and, as part of the job, they conducted recce for potential targets and hit them," said a police officer.
The accused took the stolen jewellery to New Delhi, where they pledged the jewels with a jeweller and shared the spoils among themselves.
The arrested persons were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Police are taking steps to recover the stolen jewels.