Burglar held for killing bank officer

CHENNAI: The police on Thursday announced the arrest of a burglar in connection with the murder-for-gain of a woman bank employee in Nungambakkam on the night of January 1. Recapping the murder, a press release said an unidentified culprit gained entry into the house of sisters-duo R Seethalakshmi (52) alias Aruna and R Prabhavati (54), both bank officers, on Scheme Road in Kamdar Nagar, Mahalingapuram. The burglar “intimidated Seethalakshmi at knifepoint to part with her jewels and she refused and struggled with him. In the melee, he murdered Seethalakshmi by strangulation and escaped with20 sovereigns of gold jewels.  The release said in a similar modus operandi, a culprit had sneaked into a house of School View Road in Ramakrishna Nagar, Abhiramapuram, on January 25 and robbed gold jewels weighing around 16 sovereigns and cash of Rs 1,000 from Ananda Rajagopal at knifepoint. Police arrested Arokkiasamy alias Mani alias Joseph alias Solomon of Sivaganga district and recovered the property looted by him. Probe showed that the accused was involved in several other cases in Adyar and T Nagar.He conducted surveillance of houses where elderly women lived alone. He would sneak into the house early in the night, stay put and commit the offence in the wee hours.In the bank officer’s murder case, the intruder had entered the house through an empty air-conditioner duct in the guest bedroom after removing the plywood panel. Further investigation were on.