Gold jewellery weighing 40 sovereigns, three kg of silver items, expensive wristwatches, sunglasses and brand new clothes were stolen from the house of a Southern Railway officer inside the railway staff quarters in Egmore in the early hours of Thursday. The burglary took place after residents of the house left for Christmas carols on Wednesday night.
The burglars had gained access into the house on the first floor of G Block on Gandhi Irwin Road after breaking the bolt on the front door. They took away the items placed in three almirahs in a bedroom and a showcase in the living room.
Speaking to The Hindu , Eunice Getzie, Senior Office Superintendent at Chennai Central, said that she and her husband Gunachandran returned home around 4.30 a.m. to find the door lock broken. “The almirahs were ransacked and the lockers inside them broken. Forty sovereigns, seven expensive watches and sunglasses kept inside were missing,” she added.
Getzie's daughter Anitha Christina said that a showcase containing silver items weighing three kg, an antique clock and new clothes purchased for Christmas were also missing. “None of our neighbours heard anything unusual. However the culprits had locked the door of the next house from outside to prevent them from coming out if they heard something,” she added.
The victims alerted the Egmore police who carried out preliminary investigations. Fingerprint experts gathered clues from the house. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel from Chennai Egmore Station also visited the house.
A case under Sections 380 (theft in dwelling house) and 457 (lurking house trespass) of IPC have been registered by the Egmore police.
Published - December 23, 2011 10:10 am IST
