Elders fall prey to snuff box gang in city

The modus operandi is old, but the gang seems to have found new victims. According to the police, a group of conmen posing as policemen in mufti have been approaching old women walking alone. 

The fake cops tell the victims that there is a security situation in the neighbourhood and ask them to remove all the gold ornaments they are wearing. The fake cops then help the old women wrap the gold jewellery in a piece of old newspaper and tell them to carry their jewellery home safely. At home the victims find only a snuff box and some stones in the packet. 

On Tuesday, the gang had conned a 75-year-old woman named Padamavathy Ramanathan of Portuguese Street in Ayanavaram in a similar fashion. She was walking to her residence when the gang approached her with the story of robbery on the next street and helped her to wrap her gold ornaments in a paper. After reaching home she found a snuff box and some stones in the packet instead of her gold jewellery worth 10 sovereigns. 

Police said that this was the fifth case in last two weeks in Chennai where victims were conned with a snuff box. Earlier incidents were reported in MGR Nagar, Nanganallur, Chitlapakkam and Mandaveli. The snuff box gang is said to have pocketed nearly 50 sovereigns worth over Rs12 lakh in last two weeks, said the police.