TAMBARAM : Gold jewels weighing about 15 sovereigns and Rs. 40,000 were burgled from the house of a senior bank officer in Chitlapakkam near Tambaram on Sunday. The burglary, which took place when the house was locked, came to light only after the officer and his family returned after having gone out for an hour and a half.

Gopalan, a senior officer at the Esplanade Branch of Corporation Bank, had locked his house on Kannammal Street and left for Pazhavanthangal with his family to attend a wedding reception. The family left at 7.30 p.m. and returned around 9 p.m and noticed the almirah broken open and the valuables burgled.

The culprit had managed to gain entry into the house by breaking open one of the window grilles, police said. They said special teams of the St. Thomas Mount police district are investigating the case. Senior police officials said there was a pattern to such offences in the southern suburbs of Chennai.

Residents of Chitlapakkam complained that while personnel from the police station conducted regular awareness meetings with them on how to prevent crimes, the latest burglary only reflected their lapses. They said patrolling was poor, pointing out that the latest incident took place not far from the police station.

Police say a gang is involved in the robberies, with one of them striking when the residents were away. The burglars strike between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The window grille was the only obstacle, and once it was removed, taking away the valuables was easy.

Police suspect that the gang comprises at least five members, operating in different areas, but striking alone. The first grille burglary was reported in the State in 2001; till now, about 45 cases have been reported, most of them in Chennai. In the southern suburbs alone, 10 cases have been reported. On the strategies to deal with the grille burglars, police said they were stressing increased visible policing and monitoring the movement of suspicious characters. More importantly, they plan to increase the level of awareness among the constables to keep a check on the crime rate.

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