Country-made pistol, 18 live rounds seized from robbery case accused at Sulur

The police seized a country-made pistol and 18 live rounds when they searched the residence of two men arrested in a robbery case at Sulur in Coimbatore district a few days ago.

The weapon and bullets were seized from a rented house at Rasipalayam near Sulur, where R. Gunasekaran, 62, of Karur and L. Vijayakumar, 22, of Bihar had been residing.

The police said the duo was arrested for snatching a gold chain and an earring of Mary Juliyana, 56, who runs a grocery store along with her husband Subramaniyam at SLV Nagar at Sulur, on August 28.

The accused came to the grocery store around 4 p.m. when Ms. Juliyana was alone. One of them approached her on the pretext of buying potato chips and attacked her with a hammer when she turned to grab chips packets. The stranger assaulted the woman further with his hand and hammer, after which he snatched her 2.5-sovereign gold chain and an earring of 1.5 sovereign. The man fled the spot with his accomplice on a two-wheeler, said the police.

The woman, who suffered injuries on right hand, head and right earlobe, was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. The Sulur police registered a case and launched an investigation.

Gunasekaran and Vijayakumar were traced to their rented house at Rasipalayam near Sulur. While searching the house, the police stumbled upon a country-made rifle and 18 live rounds. They also recovered the stolen ornaments from them.

Upon being interrogated, Vijayakumar told the police that he had lived in Hyderabad and he purchased the pistol from Vikram Kumar, 25, of Bihar. The police arrested Vikram Kumar. The three persons were produced before a court and were remanded in judicial custody.