2 held for relieving elderly woman of jewels, hunt on for kingpin

The men have been identified as Nabi alias Nabil (38) from Old Washermanpet and Syed Ghouse (40) from Tiruvallur district. The police are now looking for their gang leader MehboobBasha (60).

Ghouse has over 40 attention-diversion cases pending against him. “After being arrested by the Neelankarai police, he was released on bail in June and has already carried out five robberies in Ambattur, Koyambedu, Mangadu and Ayanavaram,” said an officer.

The incident in Villivakkam took place on July 4 when the victim, Kaleeshwari (65), a resident of Annanur, was on her way to a temple. “Two men intercepted her and told her that robbers were on prowl in the area and asked to keep her jewellery safe. Pretending to help her, they made her remove her jewellery, packed it in a cloth and gave it to her. They also made her board an autorickshaw and dropped her near the temple. But, when Kaleeshwari unwrapped the package, she found that her gold was not in it. She realised that she has been cheated and approached us,” said the officer.

Based on her complaint, the police combed through the CCTV footage in the area and noted the autorickshaw’s registration number in which she reached the temple. The auto driver Nabeel was traced and investigation revealed that he was working with the two men who intercepted Kaleeshwari. With his inputs, Ghouse was arrested. Both have been remanded in judicial custody.