Reformed criminal loots again to open old age home in mother’s name

Police said that M Sekhar, a postgraduate in psychology, was treated at a rehabilitation centre to help him come out of a drug addiction. By then he turned for help, he was involved in a few petty crimes, officers said. After coming out of the rehabilitation centre, he started a similar facility named ‘Spirit of Freedom’ in Tiruverkadu to help other people like him.

Soon afterwards, Sekhar purchased two acres of land at Uthukottai in neighbouring Tiruvallur district to build another facility, this time an old age home in memory of his mother. However, after completing the construction of the compound wall around the premises, he realised that he needed more money to complete the dream project. That was when he decided to go back to his ‘old trade’ to generate the required money, like Kamal Haasan’s character in the movie Guru that was released in the 1980s. 

Police said Sekhar was active in JJ Nagar and Nolambur areas, and believe he was involved in at least five to six cases of house break-ins reported in the neighbourhood in the last few months. The last case was reported on March 23 within the limit of Nolambur police station. In that case, the thief had stolen 26 sovereigns from the house of one Suresh Kumar when the family were out of town. 

During investigations, police officers checked the CCTV footages collected from locality where the thefts were reported, and identified Sekhar from the images. Following this, he was picked up and questioned. 

Police have so far recovered 50 sovereigns of gold jewellery from him. Sources added that Sekhar could have looted over 125 sovereigns in the last few months, adding that further investigations were on.