A gang of five persons were arrested by Vaniyambadi Taluk police in Tirupattur on Saturday for stealing 52 sovereigns of gold jewellery, one kilogram of silver objects and around ₹20,000 lakh cash from the house of a painter recently.

The arrested persons were identified as K. Naveen, 26, T. Parthiban, 30, S. Gopinath, 39, G. Manikandan, 40, and C. Sarathkumar, 25. They are previous offenders and have theft cases against them in Salem, Dharmapuri, Tirupattur, Thanjavur, and Pudukottai.

Initial inquiry revealed that the victim, R. Prabhakaran, 39, was living with his family including wife Geetha (34) and mother Ambika (65) in the house near Vaniyambadi town a few days ago when the gang barged into the house. The police said the gang allegedly tied R. Prabhakaran, 39, and his family and stole the valuables from the house before fleeing the spot.

Mr. Prabhakaran managed to untie himself and alerted Vaniyambadi Taluk police. Special teams were formed to nab the suspects. The police also analysed CCTV camera footage to identify suspects. The suspects were traced to a hideout in Thanjavur and were arrested. A car used by the gang was also seized.

The police said that members of the gang befriended each other when they were serving jail sentences. They travel to various parts of the State and stay in a locality before indulging in burglary. A case was registered and a probe is under way.

Published – November 08, 2026 12:54 am IST