Kolathur burglary suspect Nathuram held in Gujarat
City inspector died while trying to nab him.
Chennai; Almost two months after the daredevil daylight robbery in the city and the death of a city police inspector later, the suspect in the most sensational burglary case in the city in recent times, Nathuram Jat (28) has been arrested from Gujarat.
Senior officers in the city police confirmed to DC that Nathuram has been picked up by a special team of the Rajasthan police from a hideout in Gujarat.
While the burglary in itself was dubbed a daredevilry- Nathuram and his gang drilled a hole through the first floor of a jewellery store in Kolathur and escaped with 3.5 kg gold on November 16 - the subsequent events led to the case becoming sensational.
City police inspector S. Periyapandian, who was part of a special team sent to apprehend the burglars, was shot dead while trying to nab one of them at an abandoned brick kiln at a village in Pali district on December 13. It was initially suspected that Nathuram had shot the Inspector dead while subsequent investigations have suggested the possibility of the bullet to have been fired accidentally by another city Inspector Munisekar .
Meanwhile, Rajasthan police swung into action as the scene of crime unfolded in their jurisdiction and a day after the inspector's murder, a main accomplice of Nathuram, Dinesh Chowdary (20) was arrested.
Subsequently, family members of both the accused were arrested by the Rajasthan police. City police officers said that the arrest of Nathuram's wife, Manju on December 17 proved to be vital.
However, the suspect created a furore by uploading his profile picture on Facebook with a pistol in his hand and took it down when it went viral. Meanwhile, on Saturday, after sustained investigations a special team of Rajasthan police have apprehended Nathuram from an undisclosed location in Gujarat.
“We have been following the developments from here by coordinating with our Rajasthan police counterparts. Nathuram will be remanded for his crimes there,” a senior city police officer told DC. The officer added that city police would be seeking custody of Nathuram from Rajasthan and bring him to the city for further investigations. On November 16, G. Mukesh Kumar (37) who runs Mahalakshmi jewelers on Cudappah road in new lakshmipuram went for lunch when the gang who had rented a portion on the first floor of the jewellery store made way into the store by drilling a hole through the ceiling. Mukesh returned around 4 pm to find the jewellery missing after which police were informed.
The men had visited the jewellery shop and sought the portion in the first floor for rent to start a garment store there, police said. To convince that they were genuine, the gang even paid an advance amount of Rs 30,000.