Youth hatches plan to rob aunt for Goa trip, held

CHENNAI: Most youngsters dream of visiting Goa at least once with their friends. Why? Because, it is the ultimate party zone. Along with the sun, sand and sea, people also visit Goa to have some fun or as I call it, the Dil Chahta Hai moment. Anyone who has seen the 2001 Bollywood flick will perhaps agree.
A 19-year-old from the city, who had the same dream, landed in trouble because he decided to rob his aunt, with help from some friends. He and his friends were arrested for their troubles.

According to the police, the victim identified as Rathinammal (60) from Korukkupet works as an office assistant at the Thiruvottiyur railway station. On Monday morning Rathinammal was on her way to work as usual. “When she crossed the subway near the Mattu Mandhai in Thiruvottiyur, two youth snatched her three-sovereign gold chain and fled in a bike driven by a third person. Rathinammal cried for help and passers-by tried to nab the trio, but in vain,” said a police officer.

Thiruvottiyur police registered a case based on her complaint. A team led by inspector Bhuvaneshwari combed through CCTV footage from the neighbourhood. They found the trio talking to another teenager at a tea shop nearby before the incident. “We traced one of the suspects with the help of the number plate in the motorbike and picked him up from his house,” said a police officer. During interrogation, it came to light that the arrested youth was Rathinammal’s nephew M Balaji from Thiruvottiyur. 

Balaji is a BCom student. His dad died a few years ago and Rathinammal has been supporting Balaji and the family financially. Since Rathiammal’s children are all settled, she paid college fees of Balaji, said the police. Recently, Balaji and his friends planned a trip to Goa but did not have the money. Balaji told his friends that they could rob the gold chain from his aunt and hatched a plan since he knew her route to work. Based on his confession, the police arrested the other teenagers. They were identified as S Jai Krishna (19), S Balaji (19) and N Thirumurthi (19) from Korukkupet. The chain was recovered and they were remanded to judicial custody.