The Chennai Police on Monday arrested a 30-year-old man for scaling the wall of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi’s house in CIT Colony, Mylapore, and threatening his wife Rajathiammal and a relative with a gun. Later, the police found that the gun was actually a toy pistol, reported The Hindu.

The incident took place around 5 pm when Rajendra Prasad aimed his “gun” at Karunanidhi’s relative Malarvizhi and demanded cash and jewellery, reported The New Indian Express. At the same time, Rajathiammal had gone to the first floor where all the action was taking place. Prasad then pointed the “gun” at her too and asked for valuables.

Rajathiammal relented and told Prasad that the valuables were kept in a safe on the ground floor. She then went downstairs on the pretext of getting the valuables and alerted the guards outside the house. The guards acted immediately and caught Prasad, after which they handed him over to the police.

After being interrogated, Prasad revealed that he had climbed the wall on Sunday evening and was hiding inside the library of the house. “He scaled the wall and entered through the library door that had been left open. He had purchased the fake gun online a week ago,” an investigating officer told The Times of India.

However, Prasad told the police he not aware that the house belonged to Karunanidhi. He said he targeted it because it was a “big house”. When asked why he attempted the burglary, Prasad said he was in dire need of money to build his own house.