The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Grille burglars' were masters of the trade

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 03, 2007
ePaper


<SCRIPT language='JavaScript1.1' SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N4322.hinduonline/B2155503.3;abr=!ie;sz=468x60;ord=[timestamp]?"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <A HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N4322.hinduonline/B2155503.3;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=468x60;ord=[timestamp]?"> <IMG SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N4322.hinduonline/B2155503.3;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=468x60;ord=[timestamp]?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 ALT="Click Here"></A> </NOSCRIPT>

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Grille burglars' were masters of the trade

The leader of the gang was an expert in near-silent break-ins of locked houses, police officers tell L. SRIKRISHNA

Phase I of "Operation Grille" has ended with the arrest of an 11-member gang from Kolkata, earlier this week. The Chennai police are now preparing to interrogate them as to when, how and where they sold the stolen gold (weighing at least 1000 sovereigns) and other valuables. Some of it could still be hidden.

The special teams formed by Commissioner of Police Letika Saran comprised approximately 300-350 personnel, including Assistant Commissioners, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, policemen, fingerprint experts and photographers from the department. A few senior officers coordinated with Additional Commissioner of Police S R Jangid who led the team to Kolkata to make the arrests.

Speaking to The Hindu , some of the officers who returned to the city with the arrested gang members by the Howrah Express on Thursday said the gang members were all in the age group of 28-38. "We were able to complete the task, which was tiring and challenging," with the help of West Bengal State police, they said.

Members of the special team on the assignment codenamed `Operation Grille,' traversed Kolkata by train and other modes of transport, tracking the movements of the suspected gang members.

Explaining their method of operation, one of the investigators said the gangsters who mostly spoke Hindi and Bengali had settled down in Chennai seven years ago in the thickly populated P.C. Ramasamy Street in Thousand Lights area.

During the day, they would go around selling carpets and paper flowers in posh colonies only to scout the houses and the number of occupants. Whenever they came across independent bungalows, which were locked, they struck.

The members addressed their gang leader as "Goli." The leader was well versed in removing the grille and gaining entry without making any noise. He would also pick the locks on the almirahs quickly.

The gang was careful to not leave any fingerprints and went without footwear.

In some cases, the burglars switched on the lights once they got into the locked house, as it would give an impression to neighbours that the occupants had returned and there was nothing amiss.

It is believed that the gang carried the stolen jewels by train to Kolkata from where they smuggled it out to Bangladesh.

Interrogation of the accused in the coming weeks should reveal where they had stashed the cash realised from sale of the stolen goods, the officers said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu