Nepalese couple nabbed for theft at techie’s home in Neelankarai

CHENNAI: A Nepalese couple were nabbed by the city police on Tuesday following the theft of over 60 sovereigns of jewellery, silver items, and Rs 50,000 cash from a former techie's house in Neelankarai on May 14.

B Magesh Kumar, a retired software engineer, and his family were on a temple trip to Ranipet when the break-in happened. Nepalese nationals Ramesh Manasahi (22) and his wife, Binitha Sahi (21), worked as security guard and domestic help, respectively, at Magesh's residence.

Neelankarai police had registered a case and deployed teams at Bengaluru and towns in Uttar Pradesh along the Nepal border to nab the couple.

However, the couple was finally caught in Chennai's Anna Nagar when they tried to skip town and flee to Nepal. A similar case occurred in 2024 involving Nepalese nationals on the East Coast Road (ECR). A man who was employed as an acting driver for many in the area had 'guided' a Nepalese dacoit gang to rob jewellery worth several crores, and cash from an ECR bungalow. The arrested gang, which tried skipping to Nepal, had conducted operations in Bengaluru and Thane as well.

"In the previous case, the modus operandi was that those employed in houses guided burglars and took a commission. However, in this case, the workers themselves took on the burglary," said a senior police officer.

The Chennai police had sent teams to Bengaluru, Lucknow and border towns like Palia Kalan in Uttar Pradesh, on learning about the couple's associates. "As a part of our standard operating procedure, we sent teams to the Nepal border, because once they cross it, it will get difficult to recover the stolen property. The suspects in such cases return after a couple of months and begin working in a different city," said the officer.

Police had apprehended the couple in Shanti Colony on Tuesday morning as they were preparing to leave the city. Sixty-five sovereigns of gold jewellery and 2 kg of silver articles were recovered from them.

During the initial probe, it came to light that the couple had obtained Aadhaar cards in Bengaluru and stayed there for a few months before moving to Chennai. Search for two more Nepalese nationals who were involved in the robbery is under way and further inquiry is on to find out if the couple were involved in other offences in TN.

They were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.