CHENNAI: It would have been a normal heist story — two masked persons trying to carry out a robbery threatening an elderly couple at knife point — except for the fact that the robbers were women, and that too sisters, and the area they chose to carry out the theft was TP Chatram, a locality otherwise known for rowdy activities in the city.
According to police, the sisters,
C Jennifer (27) and C Monica (22), who currently live at Teacher’s Nagar in Kolathur, used to stay in a flat in the same building as that of the victims a few years ago and were well acquainted with the couple, Nalina (63) and her husband Pattabiraman (77). “On Tuesday, around 9 pm, the sisters knocked on the couple’s door and Nalina let them inside. After a few minutes of casual talk, the sisters whipped out a small knife to threaten the couple and tied up Nalina using a nylon thread that they brought with them,” said a police officer.
They then tried to gag Pattabiraman, who managed to resist and raised an alarm. Neighbours rushed to the flat and overpowered the duo, who had masked themselves by then. The neighbours, however, received a shock when they found that the robbers were women and that too they were known to the victims. The duo was then handed over to the TP Chatram police.
Police inquires revealed that the sisters were facing a debt of nearly Rs 5 lakh. Jennifer had earlier worked in a beauty parlour at Tondiarpet and Monica was running a travel agency. “After Jennifer’s husband died, she came to live with her sister. However, Monica was facing a huge debt after suffering heavy losses in the travels business. The duo then hatched the robbery plan and considering their erstwhile neighbours as a soft target, decided to attack them,” said the officer. The sisters have been remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Puzhal Prison.