A group of men posing as Income-Tax (I-T) officers made away with nearly 30 sovereigns of gold jewellery and Rs 1.25 lakh cash from the house of an AIADMK functionary at Kanathur on Monday.
Police sources said the eight men came to the house of Arumugam (43) at NIR Colony in VGP Nagar 5th Avenue around 7 am in a car, claiming that they had come to ‘raid’ the house as there were ‘complaints’ of tax violations against Arumugam. Both Arumugam and his wife Chandrika are former councillors and living with their two children in the house.
“The men had flashed an ID card and their mannerisms were so convincing to the family members that they allowed them inside the house,” said a police official.
The ‘sleuths’ then made the family switch off their cellphones and told all the four to be seated in the hall, while the “officers” were conducting the ‘checks’, looking for valuables in the cupboards.
“They took nearly 30 sovereigns of gold and Rs 1.25 lakh in cash. Stating that there are no proper records for these valuables, they had wrapped them and asked Arumugam to collect it in the IT office at Nungambakkam,” said the official.
After the ‘officers’ left, Arumugam contacted the I-T office through his friends and was shocked to hear that no such “raid” was conducted by the officials on Monday.
Realising that he had been conned, Arumugam lodged a complaint with the Kanathur police, who registered a case. “We have got some clues from the house. We are pursuing them and will soon identify the persons,” said a senior police official.