DRIVEN by mounting online gambling debt, a 28-year-old man murdered his elderly neighbour for her gold jewellery and then joined police officers in searching for the culprit, Makkal Osai reported.
The man, who worked in a district collector’s office, had racked up a significant debt due to online gambling.
Identified only as Arivumani from Tamil Nadu, India, he broke into 60-year-old Kalaiselvi’s house, smashed her head with a rock and stole her gold jewellery estimated to be worth over seven lakhs (around RM30,000) in order to settle his debts.
When the police were called in, they started a search of nearby areas based on traces found at the crime scene.
Arivumani decided to join in the search effort but his actions and nervous behaviour raised the suspicion of the police officers, who then questioned him separately.
He eventually admitted to what he had done and was arrested immediately.
The police later recovered the stolen jewellery.
