Chennai man beats father, an auto driver, for robbing passenger; returns stolen gold

SCHENNAI: An auto driver who brought home 10 sovereign gold ornaments, which he procured by assaulting an elderly passenger, received a jolt when his actions, unbecoming of a father, agitated his son so much that not only did he thrashed his father but also dragged him to the Tambaram police station where he also returned the stolen jewellery, on Tuesday.

According to police, on Tuesday morning, the victim Vasantha Marikannu (80), a retired schoolteacher from Tiruchy, had landed at Chennai airport from Hyderabad and had boarded Ganesan’s auto rickshaw to go to Tambaram Railway station to catch a train to Tiruchy.

When the auto approached Chromepet from the GST Road, Ganesan (50), a resident of Tambaram, took a diversion and drove to a hillock behind Tambaram sanatorium. When the woman panicked and shouted for help, Ganesan assaulted her, robbed her gold ornaments, pushed her out of the vehicle and fled the spot.

Some passersby helped her and she filed a complaint with the Tambaram police.

Meanwhile, Ganesan went home with the jewellery, telling his family that someone had left a bag in his vehicle and nobody called him about it. He said he will sell the jewellery and use the money for the family.

However, Ganesan's son Ramachandran, who drives a taxi for a living, grew suspicious and advised his father to hand over the ornaments to the police as it was not fair to sell someone else's ornaments.

He suspected Ganesan might have stolen them, and during a heated argument about it, Ganesan confessed to robbing the elderly woman and attacking her.

An agitated Ramachandran thrashed his father and took him in the same auto to the police station, where he handed him over along with the stolen ornaments.

Ramachandran narrated the incident to the police and they confirmed that the jewellery belonged to the woman, who had filed a complaint just hours ago. The police arrested Ganesan; he has been remanded in judicial custody.