Four Days On, Daylight Robber wielding Knife Caught on mobile Cam still at large

CHENNAI: Despite the passage of four days since the emergence of a mobile phone camera clip that captured a day light robbery of a woman teacher at knife point in Thuraipakkam, police are yet to identify and arrest the daring thief and his accomplice.

The city police, who had accessed the video, that has gone viral on social networking sites and other mobile platforms, claimed that they were looking into the video and are in the process of identifying the suspects involved in the crime. They noted that the suspects could be from a local mobile phone service provider centre in the neighbourhood.

The footage, reportedly shot by a resident of MCN Nagar in Thoraipakkam, runs for 2 minutes 41 seconds. It shows the woman school teacher Velam Senthil (39) of MCN Nagar being intimidated by a stout person, wearing specs and sneakers, armed with a long knife. The video shows the woman parting with the valuables including her chain, bangles, and wristwatch, even as she begged and pleaded with the duo to spare her. The robber hid the knife when a cyclist and a car zoomed past them. Soon after the theft, the robber escaped with his friend, leaving the woman shivering in shock.

A senior police official maintained that they were gathering local intelligence from shopkeepers and auto rickshaw drivers besides inquiring the victim to establish the identity of the suspects. “We believe that the duo must have been spotted by some other locals who should be able to give their identities,” the official said.

The chilling incident has come to light at a time when the crime statistics released by the city police claimed that the number of robberies, for 2014, till November 15 had dipped to 64 cases as against 74 last year, a decline of 14 per cent.

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The New Indian Express
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