Police said that Triloka Chandar’s modus operandi is to steal jewels from those who are asleep in their house. “He would look for persons sleeping near the windows and steal their jewels,” said police.

In October, Velachery police received two complaints of similar thefts in which 11 sovereign jewels were stolen. They checked the CCTV footage from the neighborhood and identified the accused as Chandar.

When he was questioned after being picked up from Andhra Pradesh, he confessed that a pawnbroker named Ukaram had sent him to steal the jewels and even paid an advance. Following this, he too was nabbed, said officials, adding that both were remanded in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, a 38-year-old man redhanded while breaking a temple hundi in Korattur in the wee hours of Tuesday. The accused, V Vadivelu of Padi, was secured by a nearby eatery staff when he was trying to break open the hundi of a Vinayakar temple on Moorthi Street around 4 am. He was handed over to Korattur police and was remanded in custody.