On March 13, a security guard at Kathipara saw two suspects remove 300 metres of copper wire from the worksite, after which he alerted the site supervisor, Thirumalaikumar, who filed a complaint at St Thomas Mount police station.

Based on investigations, the police detained Kotteeswaran (23) of Butt Road and Harish (23) of Alandur. The police recovered the wire, about 20 kg of iron scrap and Rs 15,000 in cash.

Investigations revealed that Kotteeswaran is a history-sheeted offender with five prior cases, and Harish too has a criminal case against him.
Both the accused were also involved in the theft of an air conditioner outdoor unit at a bank in the same neighbourhood.

The two accused were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Police are verifying if the duo acted with accomplices in other material thefts.