In a daring daylight dacoity that shook up the entire city, miscreants barged into a house in Marsing Pettai on Monday forenoon, held the inmates hostage at knife-point and escaped with 77 sovereigns of gold jewellery.
While the residents were still to get over the shock, the audacious robbery in the house situated in a busy residential area in the centre of the city raised serious questions over the efficacy of policing in the city. Around 11 am, F Michael Gerald (27), an evangelist in Pentecostal Church in Subramaniapuram here, answered a knock on the door to find a stranger, about 35 years old, seeking help to locate an address in the area. Michael expressed his regret as he was not familiar with the address. The stranger then requested him for a glass of water. When Michael returned with water, he found two other men, besides the stranger, at the doorway. They were wearing gloves and wanted him to open the almirah in the house.
When Michael refused to cooperate, the robbers roughed him up and held a knife at him.
They then asked him to kneel down in a corner and pinned him down with his hands tied behind him. Hearing the commotion, Michael’s mother Shantha Vincent (50) ran out of the kitchen. But one of the culprits held a knife at her throat and overpowered her easily. Michael’s father M Francis Vincent (56), an insurance agent, was away at work. She was forced by the miscreants to lead them inside and open the almirah. The robbers then looted gold jewellery, weighing about 77 sovereigns, from the almirah and stripped Shantha of the ornaments she had on her.
“It all took about 15 to 20 minutes and a noise was heard outside, which alerted the men inside and they escaped from the spot,” Michael recalled. He said one person kept watch outside the house while the three men were inside and alerted them when he sensed trouble. All the men were in the age group of 30 to 35 years Michael said.
As soon as the robbers escaped, Michael went into the room and found his mother lying unconscious.
Subsequently, he contacted his friend and called his father. On information, a police team, including Assistant Commissioner (Fort) Sekar, rushed to the spot and conducted inquiries. Forensic experts also arrived at the spot and lifted fingerprints.
The incident shocked the neighbours who wondered how the miscreants managed to rob a house on the busy main road.
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