Woman, 72, chases burqa-clad thieves in auto, gets back her chain

Chennai: When Sitalakshmi got off a share auto in Ambattur on Monday morning and found her gold chain missing she didn't panic.
The 72-year-old suspected that the two burqa-clad women who had travelled with her were responsible. She got into the same vehicle and after a chase managed to get the thieves and her chain. Police identified the offenders as Kali, 28, and Kavitha, 32, of Bengaluru.A court then sent them to jail.
Police said Sitalakshmi stayed with her son and his family at Vinayagapuram in Ambattur. On Monday morning, she had to drop her grandchildren at a private school in Surapet as their parents had gone to Thanjavur.
After seeing the two children off, the victim boarded a share auto on her way back. The accused, who got in with her, sat on either side and kep bumping into her during the journey. Sitalakshmi, however, did not suspect anything was amiss. "When all the three got down, a purse one of the accused was holding fell down in the auto," said Ambattur deputy commissioner of police R Sudhakar. The elderly woman noticed a part of a chain resembling hers peeping out of the purse, checked and found her chain missing, the officer said. Before she could pick it up, the accused boarded another auto and fled.
"I sought the help of the share auto driver and followed them," Sitalakshmi told TOI.
After around 2km, she managed to overtake the auto near a bus stop. The accused immediately denied her charge, and tried to move off after dropping the gold chain. A few members of the public caught and handed them over to police.
During questioning, Kali and Kavitha confessed to have committed two more offences in Ambattur Estate.