TN: Engineer tries chain-snatching to settle online gambling loans, arrested
According to the police, an elderly woman, Rajamani of Manimangalam, was returning home after finishing the work on March 1
The CCTV footage shows Thirumal (r) riding with the 82-year-old victim Rajamani (c)
CHENNAI: After losing money in online gambling, a civil engineer learning the ‘tricks of the trade’ of snatching by referring to YouTube videos, but was arrested after he snatched a gold chain from an 82-year-old MGNREGS worker in Sriperumbudur.
According to the police, an elderly woman, Rajamani of Manimangalam, was returning home after finishing the work on March 1. As she was walking on the Vandalur-Walajabad road, a youngster approached her claiming that she reminded him of his grandmother. After gaining her trust, he offered to take her home on his bike.
Believing him, Rajamani got on his bike and he took her to her home. After reaching there, she thanked him and turned to walk towards her home. That was when the youth snatched her four sovereign chain and escaped from the spot.
The woman filed a complaint, based on which the Manimangalam police registered a case and began investigation. After checking the footage from several CCTV cameras, they zeroed in on the suspect, identified as Thirumal (25) of Nagarcoil, who works as an engineer at a private firm in Oragadam.
The police arrested Thirumal and seized the bike used during the snatching. During interrogation, Thirumal allegedly told the police that he got addicted to online gambling and lost all his savings and even the money that he borrowed. Struggling to repay the loans, Thirumal then decided to snatch gold chains to raise money quickly. He allegedly referred to a few YouTube videos to learn more about snatching valuables.
The police found that Thirumal sold the gold chain to a pawnbroker for Rs 93,000 and used the money to settle a loan that he took for gambling. The police recovered the gold chain and remanded Thirumal in judicial custody.
