CHENNAI: A 44-year-old man in Ayanambakkam allegedly staged a burglary in his own house to raise money to repay his debts from online gambling. With the help of a relative, he shifted 103 sovereigns of gold from his house in an attempt to keep his wife in the dark about his mounting debts.
Police said B Janardhanan (44) of Ayanambakkam worked at a construction company in Saudi Arabia and had come home recently on vacation. On Sunday evening, Janardhanan along with his wife and daughter went for an outing and upon returning, realised that their house had been ‘burgled’.
Based on his complaint that 103 sovereigns of gold worth around `60 lakh, the police registered a case and commenced an inquiry. While combing CCTV footage, they saw a man entering and exiting the house. There were no signs of forced entry, indicating that the man was familiar with the house.
As they were zeroing in on the suspect, Janardhanan approached the police to withdraw his complaint. Further inquiry revealed that the 44-year-old had huge debts due to online gambling, which his wife knew nothing about. To repay the debts, he planned to sell the jewellery in his house.
He gave the house key to his relative S Thyagarajan (38) of Vadapalani, who stole the gold when the family was out. Of the 103 sovereigns, Janardhanan pledged 40 sovereigns. The police recovered the remaining gold and are considering action against Janardhanan and Thyagarajan.