COIMBATORE: Coimbatore city police on Thursday identified the burglar who broke into Jos Alukkas showroom as a native of Dharmapuri and arrested his 23-year-0ld wife for allegedly hatching the plot.
The suspect, M Vijayakumar alias Vijay alias Vinoth (24), a native of Deva Reddiyur near Harur, escaped before police could arrest him.
Sources said Vijayakumar and his wife Narmadha were staying with their three-month-old baby boy in a friend’s house at Anaimalai in Pollachi and he escaped when police surrounded them early in the morning. Besides arresting Narmadha, police recovered gold, diamond and platinum ornaments weighing around 3 kg and Rs 3600 in cash, city police commissioner V Balakrishnan said.
Though it was initially thought around 200 sovereigns of jewels were stolen, police confirmed that 4.6 kg of gold, diamond and platinum jewels and silver articles weighing 700 grams had been stolen. “With the help of CCTV camera footage and forensic evidence, we got a match of the suspect in the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS). He is facing two cases at Kambainallur in Harur and one at RS Puram in Coimbatore. We established his identity through the case history,” the commissioner said.
After committing the crime on Tuesday early morning, Vijayakumar took an autorickshaw to Gandhipuram and from there travelled on a bus to Pollachi and then reached Anaimalai. Police detained Vijay’s friend Suresh (32) in whose room the two stayed. Sources said he was arrested in a Pocso case a few years ago and became friends with Vijay while they were in the Coimbatore Central prison. Police are investigating where Vijayakumar hid the remaining ornaments and if any other person helped him.
A senior police officer in the special team said Dharmapuri police inadvertently spoiled their chances of arresting Vijayakumar. “After confirming Vijayakumar’s identity, we alerted Dharmapuri police and they searched for him in his home town. On Wednesday, we received confirmation that Vijayakumar was in Anaimalai. We called off the search and informed Dharmapuri police. A team rushed to Anaimalai to arrest him, but he escaped. We could arrest his wife and seize the valuables,” the officer said.