Chennai: Judge loses Rs 1 crore gold jewellery

Chennai: In a daring daylight burglary on Thursday in the highly guarded Saidapet Judges’ Quarters, thieves had reportedly decamped with nearly 450 sovereigns of gold jewels worth over Rs 1 crore from a suspended judge’s residence. The incident was reported in the first floor residence of the judge, Sreeja Subramanian in Block C3 of the campus. When she returned around 1 pm, after two-and-half hours in Saidapet market, she found the front grille of her door having been forced open and the steel bureaus inside cleared of their valuables.

Judge leaves main door open, but balcony closed:

Thieves decamped with nearly 450 sovereigns of gold jewels worth over Rs 1 crore from  judge Sreeja Subramanian residence on Thursday. She alerted Kotturpuram police, who have jurisdiction over the area and they called forensic experts to the scene. Some fingerprints were lifted from the scene of crime. “It was learnt during the investigation that the judge had left the main door open though she had locked the corridor-cum-balcony’s grille gate. This made it easy for the thief or thieves to sneak into the house and operate freely inside. The burglars were privy to the absence of the judge and targeted that particular house,” said a senior police officer.

The campus has four blocks of eight houses each. The quarters have five entrances, one of which provides access through the Saidapet Court complex and another is adjacent to the entrance of the court complex. The latter would be the only gate open after 9 pm while the other four gates will be locked and guarded through the night.  Two more such big entrances are in the back while there is another access gate though the Court compound.

The campus is guarded by the Armed Reserve Police from the city. The security party replaced the night duty team, which was on duty from Wednesday night at around 9.45 am. A security personal, on condition of anonymity, said that they did not spot any suspicious person loitering in the campus during the time of the burglary. “There were people present in the other residences in the same block. We don’t know how the burglar managed to muffle the noise of a break-in,” the official added.

“The complainant was able to produce receipts for only 50 sovereigns of jewels purchased and offered to produce proof for the rest of the stolen jewels later. Another jewel bag with about 150 sovereigns remained intact in the same steel bureau. However, we are yet to ascertain the actual quantum of the jewels burgled in this incident,” said another senior police official. The judge joined service on December 10, 1999, in the cadre of Civil Judge (Junior Division). She had worked in Villupuram, Kancheepuram, and Puducherry before she was posted in Chennai at the I Assistant City Civil Court. She was suspended following disciplinary proceedings prompted by an allegation against her.