On the night of January 9, 1999, unidentified persons broke into the house of a transport operator in Kalki Nagar, Arumbakkam, while he and his family were asleep, and decamped with about 100 sovereigns of jewellery. When the family woke up the next morning, they discovered the valuables missing and alerted the police. The burglars had reportedly entered the house by removing the window grills of the ground-floor bedroom.
A few years later, in March 2004, gold and diamond jewellery worth several lakhs of rupees was stolen from a house located just a stone’s throw away from the police outpost at the Nungambakkam High Road-Valluvar Kottam High Road junction. The thieves had entered the house while the residents were asleep, after removing the window grill at the rear of the building. The complainant, an elderly woman, said the jewellery belonged to her daughter, who had recently arrived in the city from the United States. Both mother and daughter were asleep when the burglary occurred and discovered the theft only the following morning. The almirah, located in an adjacent room, had been broken open and the valuables stolen, she said.
