Smartphone alert leads to arrest of serial burglars in West Mambalam

CHENNAI: The Chennai police caught two serial burglars in West Mambalam after a homeowner's smartphone raised an alarm about the intrusion and foiled the burglary.

As per a Daily Thanthi report, Venkatramanan, a resident of Srinivasa Pillai Street in West Mambalam had left with his wife to New Zealand recently to spend time with his son. He had installed security cameras and an alert system on his phone before travelling so he could receive notifications in case of an emergency, added a Daily Thanthi report.

On Sunday night, Venkatramanan received an alert on his phone that there were intruders in his home. When he checked the CCTV footage from inside his house, he was shocked to see two men emptying all the valuables from his cupboard. He immediately alerted his neighbour who then informed the police.

The cops jumped into action instantly and tracked down the culprits who were hiding in the neighbourhood. The duo were identified as Kamalakannan (60) and Ari Philip (57).

The police were shocked to find that the two thieves had many pending criminal cases registered against them.

The police arrested them and recovered the stolen goods, including six sovereigns of gold, 1.5 kg of silver items and some foreign currency.