Salem: In a major heist, burglars robbed 720 sovereigns of gold jewels and Rs 2 lakh from the house of a timber merchant at Kichipalayam in Salem district. Bhaskar, a relative, was arrested and the gold recovered from him.
After preliminary enq-uiries, police suspect the involvement of family members, as the bureau and doors were intact and not broken. Police said Vijayalakshi and her brother Baskar had been running a timber business inherited from her husband Athiyappan after his death a year ago.
“She had gone on a pilgrimage to Tirupati with her family and her parents stayed in the three floored house. “On her return on Tuesday morning was shocked to find 700 sovereigns of gold jewels and Rs 2 lakh missing,” police said. Sniffer dog pressed into service, kept moving inside the rooms without going out, triggering the suspicion that the theft was by insiders.
Burglars took away the hard disk that contained the stored images. Police also grilled Vijayalakshmi and her brother. They also suspect the hand of a godman. Further probe is on.
