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Lalithaa Jewellery heist: Suspect’s mother held with 450g of looted gold
The arrest of P Kanagavalli, a resident of Seerathoppu, on Saturday came three days after the robbery at Lalithaa Jewellery in Trichy on October 2.
A 57-year-old woman, the mother of one of the suspects in the ₹13 crore Lalithaa Jewellery heist, has been arrested from Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvarur, police have said.
The arrest of P Kanagavalli, a resident of Seerathoppu, on Saturday came three days after two masked men drilled holes in a showroom of Lalithaa Jewellery in Trichy on October 2 and took away diamond, platinum and gold jewellery.
Thiruvarur Police have already arrested E Manikandan, a 34-year-old resident of Thiruvarur.
Kanagavalli, according to Trichy Police, was found with 450 grams of the gold looted from the Lalitha Jewellery showroom.
“While Manikandan had 4.5 kg of looted jewels, Kanagavalli carried 450 grams of jewels in her house at Seerathoppu, Thiruvarur. The police arrested her on Thursday evening and both the duo was produced before Judicial Magistrate – I Court in Trichy,” Trichy City Police Commissioner’s office said in a press note.
The court remanded them until October 20.
Manikandan was arrested on Thursday night during a routine vehicle check while carrying his share of the loot from Lalithaa Jewellery showroom with his accomplice, Seerathoppu Suresh. Police overpowered and nabbed Manikandan while Suresh, also a resident of Thiruvarur, managed to escape.
“… Police inquired Suresh’s mother Kanagavalli. During the inquiry, it was found that Kanagavalli possessed 450 grams of jewels. Kanagavalli was a party to her son’s share in the loot… All the recovered jewels have the barcode of Lalitha Jewellery,” said an inquiry officer.
While Manikandan was sent to Trichy central prison, Kanagavalli was taken to women’s special prison in Trichy.
“We have booked a case under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit an offence punishable with imprisonment) and 380 (theft in a dwelling house, etc). Police are on the hunt to catch more accused in connection with the heist,” Trichy city police’s statement said.
Police officers with the special team formed to hunt other accused have said S Murugan, 45, of Seerathoppu in Thiruvarur is the mastermind behind the crime.
“We are searching for Murugan, a notorious history-sheeter. There are more than 150 cases are pending against Murugan in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Since Kanagavalli and Suresh are the relatives of Murugan, he should be the prime accused in this case,” a senior police officer, who did not want to be named, said.
Trichy Police had detained six men from Jharkhand in Pudukkottai on Wednesday.
“During the inquiry, we had found that the gang was planning some crime. So, we have not released them from detention,” said A Amalraj, Trichy city’s police commissioner.
Police are also questioning the staff at Lalithaa Jewellery’s Trichy showroom.
“The burglars drilled the showroom’s sidewall, which is very close to the manager’s chair inside, and stole jewels from the ground and first floor of the three-floor showroom. Therefore, we are suspecting that some insiders should have helped the robbers,” a police officer said.
Lalithaa Jewellery has showrooms in 15 cities across south India.
