About 50 sovereigns of gold and around ₹1 lakh were stolen from the house of a priest at Kooroppada, Kottayam, the other day.
According to the police, the burglary took place when the house owner, Fr. Jacob Ninan, and his family members had gone out for a prayer. According to the police, the thief had sprinkled chilli powder at the crime scene to evade forensic investigation.
The police, during a preliminary examination of the crime scene, recovered a portion of the booty from a nearby location. An examination of the crime scene also suggested that the thief had attempted to break open a couple of other vaults inside the house, though to no avail.
The Pampady police have booked a case and a detailed probe was on.