Elderly woman conned by 4 women during auto ride

The police identified the victim as Padmavathi, a resident of Narayana Street in Ayanavaram. On Thursday evening, she had gone to a hospital in Kellys for a check-up and reached the bus stop nearby to return home. There, while she was waiting for a bus, four women, who too were waiting at the same bus stop, struck up a conversation with her.

They suggested they could hire an auto-rickshaw to Ayanavaram together. This fare-sharing would mean each of them would have to spend only Rs 20, they explained, which sounded reasonable deal to Padmavathi. After convincing her, they got into an autothat came by.

As they were travelling, one of the women told Padmavathi that the gold chain that she was wearing was broken. Believing this, the woman removed the chain and kept it safe in the handbag. However, when she checked the bag after reaching her house, she realised that the chain, weighing five sovereigns, was missing. That is when she realised she was conned, said the police. She then approached the Kilpauk police and lodged a complaint. The police have launched a hunt for the women.

Five women snatched of chains in separate incidents

Despite all major areas in the city coming under the CCTV surveillance and police officers keeping vigil round-the-clock, five snatching incidents were reported in the city on Thursday.

When Kanamma (38) was walking back home, two bike-borne snatchers relieved her of five-sovereign gold chain in Puzhal. Devi (33) lost her five-sovereign chain in a similar manner at Kundrathur. Padma (65) of Kilpauk, Thangam (53) of Velachery and Thoraiammal of Saidapet also lost their gold chain tosnatchers.