In a shocking crime at Agravaram village near Ranipet town, a 39-year-old man named S. Vinod Kumar was arrested for cutting the ear of a 70-year-old woman to steal her gold earrings. Kumar, a local man living with his wife and son, had become addicted to liquor after struggling to find work. The victim, M. Salammal, lived alone while her children stayed just a few streets away. She worked under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme in the village. On Thursday around 1 a.m., while Salammal was sleeping, Kumar tried to pull off her gold earrings, which weighed about 0.25 grams. When she resisted, Kumar brutally cut her earlobes to grab the jewelry. Her painful cries alerted the neighbors who rushed to her house and found her bleeding heavily. The Ranipet SIPCOT police promptly got her admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore and filed a case. Police formed a special team that quickly gathered clues from the victim and studied CCTV footage from local TASMAC liquor shops. They spotted Kumar lurking nearby and soon arrested him. "He confessed that he robbed the jewellery for money," police said. They also recovered the stolen earrings from him. Kumar is now in Vellore Central Prison. This incident highlights the dark side of addiction and desperation that can lead to such cruel acts in quiet villages.