Chengannur: A Kerala couple's successful robbery spree after laying honeytrap has come to end as they were arrested from Tamil Nadu, days after carrying out their latest crime at a lodge in Chengannur.
The police arrested Ratheesh S Nair, 36, of Pathanamthitta and his wife Rakhi, 31, of Mulakuzha Karakkad from a luxury hotel in Palani.
The couple has been arrested on charges of robbing 5.5 sovereigns of gold and mobile phone from a youth they had befriended on Facebook.
The latter, a Thurvaoor native, was lured to the lodge on March 18. The couple allegedly spiked beer with sleeping pills before robbing him.
Six days earlier, on March 12, the couple had robbed another person of three sovereigns of gold and an iPhone in Ochira. There is another case of robbing five-and-half sovereigns of gold and an iPhone from Palarivattom in February.
The victims of these robberies have identified the couple. The gold robbed by the couple is yet to be recovered.
The accused disclosed that they had sold off the gold, police said.
Ratheesh and Rakhi had been carrying out such robberies regularly, the police said, adding, there are cases against the couple in Ochira and Palarivattom for robbing cash after laying honey traps.
Honeytrap laid for two persons
The accused had taken a room in a hotel in Chengannur on March 17. By evening they also booked a room in a lodge located at the Government Hospital junction. Though a youth had arrived from Adoor enquiring about the couple, the lodge owner did not allow him to meet them. Luckily, he survived the trap.
The police said the couple had planned to rob this person in the same manner.
The youth from Thuravoor reached the lodge room on March 18. He was made unconscious after being given beer laced with sleeping pills.
The arrested couple has a child.
Car images led to arrest
The couple had switched off their phone after the robbery in Chengannur making it difficult for the police to trace them. The registration number of the car which was used by them to reach the place of the incident was also clearly visible in the CCTV camera footage. After examining a series of numbers, the police identified the vehicle that was registered with the residential address of Ratheesh.
Subsequently, the police nabbed them from Palani.
A police team was constituted under the direction of district police chief G Jayadevan. The team was led by DySP R Jose and comprised CI D Bijukumar, senior CPOs K Balakrishnan, Padmarajan, P Jayesh, CPOs Siju and Anil Kumar.
The couple was produced in the court and remanded. The police said that further investigation will be carried out after seeking the custody of the accused.
