The Peelamedu police are on the lookout for a middle-aged woman, who robbed a 70-year-old woman of her 6.5-sovereign gold chain, after sedating her on a Coimbatore-bound bus from Erode on Wednesday.

According to the police, the victim, R. Lakshmi, travelled on a government bus from Erode to Coimbatore on Wednesday to visit her son residing near Ganapathy. Around 11 a.m. an unidentified woman aged about 50 sat next to her and offered her a chocolate. As the stranger insisted, she ate half of the chocolate and threw out the remaining portion as it was sticky. The stranger then offered her water and she drank it.

The police said that the elderly woman became unconscious and the stranger escaped with her 6.5-sovereign chain. After finding Lakshmi unconscious as the bus reached Chinniyampalayam, the driver and conductor admitted her to a nearby private hospital.

Sub-Inspector C. Chelladurai from Peelamedu station said the elderly woman recovered from the sedation at the hospital. The police registered a case based on a complaint lodged by the victim’s son. “We are in the efforts to trace the culprit,” said Mr. Chelladurai.