Guard killed, robbers unable to open locker

Police said that a gang of burglars broke into the bank by opening the shutters, but couldn’t open the locker, which had jewels worth over Rs 5 crore pledged by the public. 

The deceased, identified as Periasamy (45), a security guard from a private firm in Rasipuram, was found strangled to death with a bed sheet. He is working as a night security in the bank for the last six months and is survived by his wife Gokila and son Gautham (14), studying in Class 9. 

The incident came to light on Sunday morning, when Senthil, president of the Primary Agricultural Co-Operative Credit Society came to the bank. “The guard was not found at the entrance, while the front doors of the society were found broken open. He then found Periasamy lying dead in the backyard of the society premises,” police said. 

The body of the deceased has been sent for post-mortem to the Tiruchengode Government Hospital. On receiving information, the Elachipalayam police led by Namakkal Superintendent of Police Arularasu rushed to the spot and held inquiries. “An examination by the police revealed that burglars had made a futile attempt to break open the locker after searching for money in the cash counters. The locker had around 2,119 sovereigns of gold jewels pledged by the public and Rs 1, 51,523 in cash,” police said. 

While the CCTV cameras fixed inside the building premises of the society were defunct, the burglar’s siren too didn’t raise an alarm. 

The police are left clueless over the identity of the burglars. The Elachipalayam police have registered a case and constituted four special teams to nab the culprits.