THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A five-member Nepali gang, including a woman working as a maid, robbed a house at Hariharapuram near Varkala on Tuesday night after sedating the residents by administering drug-laced food. The group entered the house of Sreedevi Amma and decamped with an undisclosed quantity of gold and Rs 30,000 in cash.
Two of the suspects, while attempting to flee, were caught by the local people and handed over to the Ayiroor police, who have since recorded their arrests. The police said the arrested have identified themselves as Janak Sha, 42, and Ram Kumar, 48. However, since the two did not possess any documents to prove their identity, the cops are yet to confirm their names.
The robbery was carried out allegedly with the active support of a Nepali woman, who was working as a housemaid at Sreedevi’s house. As in the case of men, the police have not been able to verify her name. One of the arrested, however, told the cops that her name is Sohilla.
She began working at Sreedevi’s house 15 days ago. Police sources said she could have been instructed by one of the men, who is on the run, to take up work as a maid to carry out the robbery.
The police suspect that the housemaid could have mixed sedatives in the food consumed by Sreedevi, her daughter-in-law Deepa and home nurse Sindhu.
The incident came to light when Sreedevi’s son, who works in Bengaluru, failed to get either his mother or wife on the phone. Sensing danger, he alerted a relative residing in the neighbourhood.
When the person arrived to check on the situation, by 11pm, he saw a group of people fleeing the house. He immediately alerted the neighbours and they rounded up two of the suspects. One was found hiding on the house premises while the other was found entangled in a barbed wire mesh.
The three inhabitants of the house were found in an unconscious state and were shifted to a private hospital in Kollam. Their condition is reported stable.
The police said the men worked as farm labourers and had been staying in Kerala for some time. Since the three women are yet to fully regain consciousness, the police are yet to verify the exact quantity of the gold lost.