CHENNAI: A 55-year-old habitual offender was arrested on Wednesday after his involvement in attention diversion acts on elderly women came to light through a CCTV grab. About 112 sovereigns of gold jewels stolen in various parts of the State and neighbouring Puducherry were recovered.
According to police, on 11 November, Murali, aka Kotti of Nagalkeni in Pallavaram, picked up a conversation with Varalakshmi (66) of Cheyyar while travelling in a bus from Tambaram. After assuring that he would get her old age pension, Murali convinced the woman to come along. He then took her to a private shopping complex in Tambaram and made her fill a couple of forms to gain her confidence. He managed to make the woman part with her 4 sovereign jewels, and Rs 30,000 cash, on the pretext of taking her passport picture, wherein he claimed she would appear rich if she wore the jewels leading to rejection of the pension application.
As Murali did not return after a long time, Varalakshmi realised she had been conned and preferred a complaint with Tambaram police. Cops accessed CCTV footage obtained from shops in the vicinity and established the identity of Murali. Special teams were formed which subsequently nabbed Murali, who was wanted in several cases in the city besides Kancheepuram and Puducherry.