Chennai: A fingerprint lifted from a Pulianthope house where ₹46,000 was stolen led police to the complainant’s daughter’s boyfriend of six years, who was arrested in connection with the burglary.The arrested man, identified as Dineshkumar, is a resident of the Otteri Dhobikana Housing Board area. Police said he entered the house using a key that the family routinely kept in a particular spot.The complainant, Selvi, 38, a Greater Chennai Corporation sanitary worker from K P Park in Pulianthope, returned home around 1am on Aug 19 after work and found ₹46,000 kept in a bureau was missing. Her husband runs a tiffin shop near their house.As there were no signs of forced entry, Selvi suspected that someone familiar with the house could have taken the money and lodged a complaint with Basin Bridge police.A fingerprint team from the Chintadripet fingerprint bureau examined the house and lifted prints. One of them matched the fingerprint of a person linked to a criminal case registered at Royapettah police station in 2023.Using the fingerprint match, police identified Dineshkumar and detained him for questioning. Police found that he had been in a relationship with Selvi’s daughter for the past six years.Police said Dineshkumar went to the house to meet his girlfriend but found no one home. Knowing where the family kept the key, he used it to open the door, entered the house and took ₹46,000 from the almirah.Dineshkumar was arrested and remanded in judicial custody. Police said he was involved in several previous cases.
