A man and his accomplice, who posed as husband and wife, were caught and roughed up by the public when they tried to rob the house of a doctor couple at T. Nagar on Monday.
The duo entered the house under the pretext of looking for a house on rent.
The complainant, Radhakrishnan, 74, and his wife reside on the ground floor of a three-storey building on G.N. Chetty Road.
Around 2 p.m. on Monday, Mr. Radhakrishnan heard a knock on the door. On seeing the couple standing outside, he opened the door assuming they wanted a house on rent.
As soon as Mr. Radhakrishnan opened the door, he grew suspicious about the person in saree.
Pushed down
However, before he could say anything, the duo pushed him down and demanded the keys for the steel bureau in the house. On hearing the noise, his wife came out. When she cried for help, one of the robbers tried to gag her. The couple’s screams alerted a watchman and a few neighbours, who came to their rescue.
After the public surrounded the house, the duo tried to flee but were nabbed and beaten up. Only then did they realise that both the accused were men and handed them over to the police.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Muthalagu identified those arrested as Prakash, a civil engineer and native of Tindivanam, and his accomplice Sujanth, 19, of Dindigul, a mason.
Sujanth had taken up construction work at Mr. Radhakrishnan’s house a few days ago. While working there, he noticed jewellery and cash in the house.
As the construction sector was witnessing a lull, Prakash and Sujanth were not getting enough work. So they planned to rob Mr. Radhakrishnan’s house.
Both were remanded in judicial custody.
