A burglar gang literally had a cool time robbing two houses as they switched on the air-conditioners and enjoyed omelette and cool drinks before decamping with 20 sovereigns gold jewellery, Rs 40,000, silk sarees and silver articles at Mallika Nagar, in suburban West Tambaram.
The filmy-style burglary came to light when the house-owners, who had gone to Tiruchy to attend a wedding five days back, returned Saturday morning.
The burglars, believed to be more than three, might have broken into the houses and committed the robbery a couple of days ago, the police surmised.
After jumping over the compound wall, the robbers cut the lock of the grill gate and broke open the wooden door.
They robbed 10 sovereigns of jewellery, Rs 25,000 from the ground floor house, where Ms Sathyabama, a senior accountant in the postal department, lived.
On the first floor house, where her sister Krishnaveni lives with her husband Govindaraj, a manager in L&T, they looted 25 sovereigns of jewellery and Rs 15,000, police said.
While committing the robbery on the first floor, the burglars switched on the AC and had omelette and cool drinks from the fridge. They covered the glass windows with bedsheets when they switched on the lights.
A neighbour, finding the ground floor grill gate unlocked, brought a lock from his house and locked the door without realising that it was too late. He thought the house owner had forgotten to lock the house.