All-woman gang held for robbing senior citizens, 24 sovereigns seized

On October 8, K Sathya (60) of Sholavaram, who was waiting at the toll plaza bus stop in Tiruvottiyur, was approached by a group of women. They stuck a conversion, travelled with Sathya on a bus and escaped with her two-sovereign chain.

Similarly, two days earlier, B Kuppammal (70) of Korukkupet was returning home from Tondiarpet in a share auto after withdrawing her pension money when three women boarded the vehicle. One of them told Kuppammal that her gold chain had snapped. Believing her, Kuppammal removed the chain and kept it in a pouch along with the cash. But the pouch was found missing when she alighted the auto near her house.

Based on their complaints, Joint Commissioner (North), V Balakrishnan, formed a special team to nab the gang. Based on the CCTV footage and search in the criminal records, the police secured four suspects, identified as K Rani (28), R Thilaga (31), V Rajamani (49) and K Maria (33), all from Thoothukudi district. Around 144 grams of gold was seized from them. Based on their inputs, three more accused, identified as M Lakshmi (40) of Thoothukudi, T Usha (34) and S Irakki Ammal (27) were nabbed. As much as 48 grams of stolen jewels were retrieved from them, too.

Investigation revealed that they operated in two groups and indulged in similar crimes in Basin Bridge, Villivakkam, Egmore, RK Nagar, and robbed as many as 15 persons. All seven were remanded in judicial custody on Monday.