Man crashes weddings, steals cash, gifts; arrested

Chennai: A man involved in stealing cash gifts and gold jewellery from wedding halls in Mylapore and Saidapet was arrested. Police seized 2.57 lakh in cash and silver items.
The arrested man was identified as Purushothaman, 53, from Villupuram. Police said he crashed weddings and kept an eye out for cash gifts.
Police tracked the suspect following a complaint filed by Eswari, 60, who lives with her husband and two sons. Eswari's eldest son's wedding was held on Jan 26 at a wedding hall on East Mada Street, Mylapore. Eswari kept a bag containing around 2 lakh in cash gifts, 3 sovereigns of gold jewellery and other items. When her relatives called her to take a family picture, she left the bag unattended in a corner of the hall. After taking photos, Eswari returned to find the bag missing and filed a police complaint.
A team reviewed CCTV footage and tracked Purushothaman. During questioning, he confessed to stealing 57,000 from another wedding hall on Feb 2. Police recovered a total of 2.57 lakh in cash and silver items from him.
He has five previous criminal cases against him, including robbery and theft, said police.