Villupuram man steals cash gifts, gold jewels from wedding halls in Chennai; held

CHENNAI: A man involved in stealing cash gifts ('moi panam') and gold jewellery from wedding halls in Mylapore and Saidapet has been arrested. Police recovered cash amounting to Rs 2,57,000 and silver items from him. The arrested has been identified as Purushothaman of Villupuram.

Police tracked the suspect based on a complaint from Eswari (60), wife of Shankar, whose eldest son’s wedding was held on 26 January at a wedding hall on East Mada Street, Mylapore.

During the event, a bag containing approximately Rs 2 lakh in cash gifts, 3 sovereigns of gold jewellery, and other gifts was left unattended in a corner of the hall.

After taking group photos, the family returned to find the bag missing. Eswari filed a complaint at the Mylapore Police Station, prompting authorities to register a case and launch an investigation.

A team led by the Mylapore Crime Wing Inspector reviewed CCTV footage from the wedding hall and identified the suspect. Further tracking led to the arrest of V Purushothaman (53), of East Shanmugapuram, Villupuram.

During interrogation, Purushothaman confessed to stealing Rs 57,000 from another wedding hall in Saidapet on 2 February.

Further investigation revealed Purushothaman’s history of targeting wedding halls to steal cash and jewellery. He already has five prior criminal cases, including robbery and theft.

Following the arrest of Purushothaman, he was produced before a court and remanded to judicial custody as per the court’s orders.