Chennai: 71 sovereigns of gold, silver stolen

Chennai: About 71 sovereigns of gold jewellery and silverware were stolen from the house of a senior official of Avadi Heavy Vehicles Factory (HVF) in Ambattur on Wednesday. The incident came to light on Thursday after house owner Chandran complained to the police.

Chandran (57) works as an additional general manager at the Heavy Vehicles Factory and lives on School road, Secretariat colony in Ambattur, with his wife, Sudha (50), a doctor at the Government hospital, Chromepet.

Police investigations revealed that Chandran along with his family left for Madurai on Monday (May 22) for vacation. The family had planned to tour southern districts, police sources said.

On Wednesday  evening, the maid who came to clean outside the house found that the front door open. Alarmed, she informed the neighbours who alerted Chandran about it.

The family cut their tour short and returned home during the early hours of Thur-sday to find the locker broke open and things strewn on the floor. Ambattur police were informed and a team headed by Inspector Kanthakumar rushed to the scene to conduct investigations.

Police sources quoted the family as saying that about 70 sovereigns of gold jewellery, silverware and other items to be stolen from the house.

Officials from the fingerprint bureau were pressed into service to look for potential clues. Police are also checking the CCTV footage in the neighbourhood. Ambattur police have registered a case and are investigating.