A 23-year-old youth, who had snatched a gold chain worth around Rs 1 lakh from an elderly woman to allegedly finance his sister’s studies, landed behind the bars here after police nabbed him on Tuesday.
Kumar alias Veera Kumar, of Ambedkar Nagar in Bagayam, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of snatching a seven-and-half sovereigns of gold chain from an elderly woman at Sanjivipuram on April 11. The police also recovered the stolen gold chain from the youth’s house. He was remanded and sent to the Vellore Central Prison for Men.
Rosamma (67) of Sanjivipuram had filed a complaint with the Bagayam police stating that an unidentified youth had snatched her chain. The incident had occurred when she was walking towards her house about 8 pm on April 11.
Investigating Officer (IO) and Inspector of Police of Bagayam Station V Raja said Kumar was a habitual drinker and unemployed. His sister, who was awaiting her Plus Two public examination results, aspired to become a nurse. Kumar, who wanted to help his sister pursue her dreams, had initially decided to pledge their house. However, he feared that he would not be able to redeem the house. “So, he decided to make money without mortgaging his house,” the IO said and added that Kumar planned to snatch gold chains from elderly people to make easy money.
On seeing Rosamma, who was going to church with her husband Gnanaprakasam (75), a retired EB staff, the youth decided to rob them to finance his sister’s study. “Kumar waited till the elderly couple returned from the church. Around 8.15 pm, Rosamma and her husband were walking back home. Kumar, who was hiding behind a tree, intercepted the couple and snatched the gold chain from Rosamma and disappeared in the dark,” Raja added.
On the same night, Rosamma filed a case and gave a physical description of the chain-snatcher. “With the descriptions given by the complainant, we picked up more than 25 youth in and around Bagayam for inquiry. Finally, we nabbed Kumar on Tuesday. He admitted that he had snatched the chain and divulged that he had buried the stolen chain behind his house,” he further said.
The police recovered the stolen chain from Kumar’s house and booked a case against him. He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate Court-I in the District Vellore Court Complex at Sathuvachari and remanded to the Vellore Central Prison for Men.