THANJAVUR: Thieves decamped with 55 sovereigns of gold jewellery from the house of the Cuddalore district collector near Peravurani in Thanjavur district on Friday night.
While the collector V Anbuselvan along with his family members is staying in Cuddalore, the house in his village of Nadiyam was being looked after by Selvam, 62.
Selvam had been keeping watch near the front door of the house. Meanwhile, some miscreants who scaled the compound wall at the back of the house entered the house by breaking the back door and took away 55 sovereigns of gold jewels.
Later, they dumped the CCTV camera in the water tank in the backyard of the house. On Saturday morning, when Selvam went around the house, he found that the back door had been broken open and informed the police.
Police personnel including Subramanian, the DSP of Pattukkottai, and Veera Annadurai, the Inspector of Police, Sethubavachathiram, rushed to the spot and held inquiries. Forensic experts collected fingerprints from the scene of the crime and a sniffer dog was also pressed into service.