A major robbery was reported from the house of a doctor in the Athani area of Aluva in Ernakulam district of Kerala during the wee hours of Saturday morning. Two men entered the house of Dr Gracy Mathew, a native of Chengamanad, and stole more than 60 sovereigns of gold and silver along with a sum of Rs 75,000. Media reports said the burglars entered through the back door of the house.
According to a report in Mathrubhumi, Dr Gracy, who is a gynaecologist at a primary health centre in Chengamanad, used to live alone in her two storeyed house.
The burglars, who entered the house around 2.30 am on Saturday, tied up her arms and threatened her into handing over the jewellery and money. They were able to get around 60 sovereigns of jewellery from the cupboards and along with it, they also took all the money that was inside the cupboard, which amounted to almost Rs 75,000.
Manorama News also reported that Dr Gracy told the police that the approximate value of the total items that have been stolen from her house will come up to Rs 16 lakh. In her statement to the police, she also said that the robbers stayed at her house for more than one and half hours and had worn masks.
Speaking to TNM, an official at the Aluva west police station said, “There were two persons who were involved in the robbery and a case has been booked against them under sections 457 (Lurking house - trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) and 461 (Dishonestly breaking open receptacle containing property) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).”
The police also said that forensic officials have obtained fingerprints from the scene of the crime and that investigations are on full swing.