Bizman steals 550 svgns from own house, spends it on girlfriend

CHENNAI: A businessman who allegedly stole 550 sovereigns of gold from his own house to fund the luxurious life of his girlfriend was arrested along with the woman on Monday.

Avadi police also arrested the 22-year-old woman, R Swathi, who was in cahoots with the man. The main accused, M Sekar (40), is the eldest brother of the family. The family owns a bakery in Poonamallee and also run a finance business, police said.

Sekar’s younger brother, Rajesh filed a complaint with the Poonamallee police on Saturday alleging that more than 550 sovereigns of gold were missing from his house.

Rajesh has been separated from his wife and she left to her parents’ house a year ago. Making use of her absence, Sekar, who had keys to all the lockers and cupboards in the house, took his sister-in-law's jewellery from the locker in instalments and gave it to Swati, police said.

Sekar, who is married with two children got into a relationship with Swathi (22) of Velachery, two years ago. Sekar’s wife has been suffering from a health ailment and is recovering, police investigations revealed.

Apart from his sister-in-law's jewels, Sekar also took jewellery and seven gold bars, each weighing one hundred grams, belonging to his mother and gave it to her, police said.

“In their complaint, the family mentioned the stolen property to be more than 550 sovereigns. We are investigating. Preliminary enquiries have revealed that at least 200 sovereigns have been stolen from the house, ” said a senior police officer.

With the stolen jewellery, Sekar had also bought Swathi a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) in early 2021. The vehicle was registered in her name.

After the police complaint, Sekar left the home and was in hiding. On Monday, Poonamalee police arrested the duo and produced before a magistrate. They have been remanded in judicial custody.