CHENNAI: A 24-year-old cook from Nepal allegedly mixed sleeping pills in his former employer's food and escaped with 15 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs 30,000 in cash from their house in Kilpauk.
Police said the man, identified as R Sujan, was arrested at the Chennai Central railway station on Tuesday.
Sujan worked as a cook for V Srinivasalu, 54, and his family for almost two years and quit in 2017. "He returned to Nepal and three months ago moved back to Chennai in search of a job. He managed to find a job in a hardware store in Nungambakkam. Since the money he earned was insufficient, he hatched a plan to target his old employer," said a police officer.
"He visited Srinivasalu on Monday night and offered to cook dinner for him, his wife Nandhini and daughter Sai Jasvanthi. He cooked enough food for the family of three, driver Sakthivel and watchman Krishna. Minutes after finishing their food, all of them fell unconscious," the officer said.
Sujan then broke open the cupboard and decamped with Rs 30,000 in cash and 15 sovereigns of gold jewels, police said.
On Tuesday, Srinivasalu filed a complaint with the Kilpauk police who nabbed Sujan at the Chennai Central railway station when he was about to board a train. They recovered Rs 20,000 in cash and the jewels from him.
A case has been registered against Sujan who was remanded in judicial custody by a magistrate court.