THIRUVALLA: Gold ornaments weighing 23 sovereigns and Rs 65,000 were stolen from a new house where housewarming ceremonies were held two days back. The theft took place at the house of Shaji Chacko, an expat living in Ittuvarathi in Thottabhagam. The family came to know about the burglary on Tuesday morning. The window of the back room of the house was broken and gold ornaments and money were stolen from the bags in the cupboard. The thieves broke the window pane and dragged the almirah towards the window before carrying out the theft.

The cupboard was opened by using the key kept on top of it. Shaji's wife Deepa came to know about the theft yesterday morning at 6 am. Deepa and her daughter were sleeping in a room on the first floor of the house. Shaji's parents were in a room in the ground floor. The theft took place in the room near the room where they were sleeping. The thieves had tried to break open the door from outside the portico of the first floor of the house. When that failed, the window of the room on the ground floor was broken for the burglary.

On learning about the incident, a police team led by Thiruvalla DySP T Rajappan and a forensic team from Pathanamthitta reached the spot and collected evidence.