CHENNAI: At a time when medical staff across the state have been raising the issue of mounting workload, one industrious nurse in the city apparently found extra time to moonlight as a jewel thief too. The 33-year-old nurse was arrested on Saturday for allegedly stealing gold jewellery from a shop in New Washermenpet posing as a customer wearing a burqa. Police identified the suspect as Priyanka of Thanjavur.
Sources said Priyanka went to a jewellery store in New Washermenpet on November 18 wearing a burqa. “She posed as a customer and inquired about the price of some ornaments before leaving. She returned to the shop before long and tried on different earrings. However, she did not buy anything and left the place,” they added.
While assessing the store collection before downing shutters for the day, the store owner realised that four pairs of gold earrings, weighing a total of around 10 grammes, had gone missing. His employees raised suspicion about the burqa-clad woman visiting the shop twice, and based on this, the owner lodged a police complaint.
After combing the shop’s CCTV footage, police zeroed in on Priyanka and arrested her on Saturday. During interrogation, she allegedly told the police that owing to her low salary, she had stolen gold ornaments from several places in and around the city such as Tambaram, Guduvanchery, Kalpakkam and Acharapakkam. The police also recovered gold jewellery weighing 7 grams from the suspect.