Guard steals swanky Jaguar in Chennai to pay off Rs 80,000 loan, held

CHENNAI: Police on Tuesday nabbed a security guard of an apartment complex in Anna Nagar and charged him with stealing a Jaguar XE belonging to a resident of an adjoining building. The arrested man, 56-year-old V Vijayaram, told police he had been eyeing the swanky car for a long time as he needed to settle a loan of 80,000. A court later sent him to jail.
Police said A Balasubramanian, a resident of Sixth Avenue in Anna Nagar, was employed at a private firm which provided him the Jaguar XE two years ago. He usually parked it in the basement pf the complex and took the keys with him. On May 26, Balasubramanian's driver lost the car keys and told him. Since he could not find the key after a long search, he informed Balasubramanian alerted the Anna Nagar police the next day. Even as a hunt was on for a spare key, the car went missing on May 31. He initially believed the driver could have found the key and taken it away. Only after he called the drive did he come to know it was stolen. He lodged a complaint.
Police questioned the driver who said Vijayram, a native of Cuddalore, often helped him clean the Jaguar. A check of CCTV camera footage showed the car being driven out in the wee hours with Vijayram at the wheel. Interrogation revealed that Balasubramanian's driver had dropped the keys by mistake and Vijayram picked them up. "He thought they would come up with a spare key the next day. But since they did not arrange for one, he stole the car on May 31," said an investigating officer.
He parked the car in a shed near Maduravoyal and was looking for a buyer. He also did not come to work fearing police inquiry. During interrogation, Vijayram told police he decided to sell the car to repay the 80,000 he had borrowed from a friend. "He didn't know the car would fetch him a hefty sum if sold," the officer said, adding he didn't have a crime record.