THOOTHUKUDI: Amidst theft cases soaring in Kovilpatti since the past few months, over 15 sovereigns of gold ornaments were allegedly looted from the house of an engineer at Nalattinputhur here on Wednesday. Sources said, the incident took place when the family members were away at Rasipuram, and it was the neighbours who reported the theft to the police.
The house belongs to Rajkumar of Chakkarathalwar Nagar near Nalattinputhur, who is currently working in Jharkhand. One week ago, his wife Rani, who stays at the house, went to Rasipuram to drop her son at school, and is yet to return. On Wednesday, residents of the neighbourhood noticed that the house was broken into and alerted the police, sources said.
Police inspection revealed that a bureau inside the house was looted and gold ornaments, said to account to at least 15 sovereigns, were stolen. However, Rani is yet to arrive to lodge a formal complaint, sources added. It is pertinent to note that theft and house break-in incidents have shot up in and around Kovilpatti in the recent months.
For instance, a few days back, a theft attempt occurred at an ATM kiosk near Anna bus stand, and 10 sovereigns of gold ornaments were stolen from a realtor's house at Krishnanagar. Further, three more house theft attempts were reported in the same region.
A few weeks ago, miscreants stole Rs 48 lakh cash from the deputy BDO's house in Rajiv Nagar. Besides, culprits fled with eight sovereigns of gold ornaments from a retired deputy BDO's house at Mullainagar, and also looted 30 sovereigns of gold from a teacher's house in Sinthan Nagar.
In a separate incident, 100 sovereigns of gold jewellery were stolen from the house of a government school teacher at Subba Nagar, and 30 sovereigns of gold ornaments were stolen from another teacher's house in Nalattinputhur, a month back. "In spite of the presence of CCTVs in most of the targeted houses, police investigation remains shoddy," said a Kovilpatti resident.
According to sources, police have stopped night patrolling along the streets of the area, citing shortage of police personnel at the concerned stations. Besides, some of the accused are in nexus with the police officers, who have been working in the same stations for several years, they alleged.
Speaking to TNIE, a cop, on condition of anonymity, said that the police were aggrieved over the state government's severe action against officers regarding human rights violation cases. Meanwhile, Kovilpatti DSP Venkatesan was not available for comments.