Trolls, which were based on popular film scenes, prominently displayed the photo of the suspect.Taliparamba: In a path-breaking investigation which involved more brain than brawn, the police here created trolls on the social media to solve crime. The first-of-its-kind investigation in Kerala met with success as the culprit, who was behind a series of jewellery thefts in Kannur district since February this year, landed in the police net.
Trolls created by a team headed by Taliparamba DySP K V Venugopal and SI P Binu Mohan led the police to Muhammed Mustafa, belonging to Uppala in Kasargod district. Trolls, which were based on popular film scenes, prominently displayed the photo of the suspect.
Mustafa used to target people aged above 60. The first incident was reported from Payyannur on February 22 when four-and-a-half sovereigns of gold were stolen. Subsequently, similar thefts took place at Taliparamba, Kannur, Thalassery and Pazhayangady.
Though the police launched an intense investigation, there were no clues. Meanwhile, the image of a likely suspect was caught on a CCTV camera in Payyannur. The man wore a blue shirt. When the police continued their probe following this lead, they found that at all places where the thefts were reported, the culprit was wearing a blue shirt. Following which, the trolls showing the man in blue shirt were created.
The trolls circulated widely on the social media. A retired ASI in Kannur, seeing one of these trolls, informed the investigating team that a man in blue shirt had been arrested for robbing an elderly person of Rs 1,500 on the premises of the Koyili Hospital back in 2008.
A police team under SI Binu Mohan soon reached Kannur court and examined old case files. The name Muhammed Mustaq and his address -- roadside vendor, Ezhilode - was found. However, the police could not trace such a person. But, the team examined the tax details of the people who stood surety for the accused and picked up the address, Meencha, Kaikambal in Kasargod, which was an uninhabited place. The search for the owner of the land led the police to a couple at Uppala, who said that they had stood surety for their son Muhammed Mustafa. But the couple added that they had no contact with their son during the last 10 years.
Soon, the police found the house of Mustafa’s wife and collected phone numbers from there. Over 9,000 phone call records were examined and Mustafa’s address at an apartment at Kallayi, Kozhikode, was obtained. Without delay, the SI reached Kallayi. The local residents identified Mustafa’s photo, but told the police that he was not visiting the place for the last two years.
Subsequently, the police focussed their attention on the house of Mustafa’s wife. A police officer in plain clothes approached the house in the guise of delivering a parcel to Mustafa, but the residents did not accept it, saying that he was not there. The police gave a contact number to the residents. A call arrived in that number after some time from a man who said that he was the brother of Mustafa’s wife. The caller said that the parcel could be delivered to him.
The police soon received another call from the man, which convinced them that it was Mustafa himself at the other end. They told him to reach Kasaragod railway station to receive the parcel, and when he arrived there, pounced on the man.
During questioning, Mustafa told the police that he was suffering from various ailments and was carrying out the thefts to earn money without working.
The district police chief has announced a reward for the police team under DySP Venugopal and SI Binu Mohan for their intelligent method of cracking a crime. Mustafa wore a blue T-shirt during all his robberies considering it to be his lucky charm. But it proved to be the vital clue which turned lucky for the police as well as Mustafa’s misfortune.
