CHENNAI: Police have arrested three women from Madhya Pradesh who camped in the city and indulged in serial thefts, targeting customers at crowded shopping complexes in T Nagar. Police seized Rs 6.4 lakh in cash from them.
Shalini Priya (29) of Taramani filed a complaint stating that about four sovereign gold jewellery items were stolen on July 25 when she was in a jewellery store in T Nagar.
In a similar case, Nataraja Kirubanandhan of Sithalapakkam complained that, on July 25, while shopping for sarees at a textile shop, valuables including Rs 75,000 cash went missing from his bag.
Based on the complaints, Mambalam Police registered a case, perused the CCTV footage and zeroed in on the suspects. Based on a tip-off that the suspect women were in Puducherry, city police alerted their counterparts in Puducherry and the trio was apprehended by a team at a shopping complex there.
The women were identified as Lakshmibai Rajesh (40), Meenakshi Bablu (35) and Khushboo Rakesh (40) - all from a village in Rajgarh district, Madhya Pradesh.
Police found that the trio targeted shops in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. They allegedly scoped out jewellery and textile shops and stole gold and cash from customers' bags, later splitting the money.
Police added that Lakshmibai faces five criminal cases while Meenakshi and Khushboo each have 4 cases. The three were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.