The mastermind of Lalitha Jewellery heist has died night due to health issues in judicial custody.
A senior police officer said N Murugan, 46, alias Thiruvarur Murugan alias Neeravi, had been suffering from an immunodeficiency disease and tuberculosis for the past few months and was admitted to Bowring hospital for treatment. He died around 12.30 am on Tuesday.
Murugan had surrendered himself before a court in Bengaluru on October 11, 2019, after he and his gang reportedly burgled Lalitha Jewellery, located in a three-storeyed building near Chathiram bus Stand in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu on October 3, 2019.
Murugan and his gang were accused of robbing 30 kilograms of gold, diamond and platinum items worth around Rs 12 crore. He and his nephew Suresh wore masks and robbed the jewellery shop.
Burglaries in South India
Murugan allegedly ran an inter-state burglary gang in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry. In 2008, he had reportedly marked houses of businessmen in Bengaluru and Hyderabad for burglary. The gang was on a robbery spree to produce a movie, the police said.
Murugan, a resident of Thiruvarur, had many cases pending against him in Bengaluru, Chennai and other parts of South India.
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