Kochi: Three thieves, who were nabbed by the police on Sunday, had taken a flight to Kochi from north India! They robbed six locked-up houses of prosperous families over three days.
All the burglaries were carried out during the day, and within 10km of the various police stations’ jurisdictions. And finally, they were arrested with their stolen goods just before they were to flee the state as the cops of all the police stations in the city worked together, regardless of the duty time or respective jurisdictions.
Uttarakhand native Mintu Vishwas (47, who lives in JJ Colony of New Delhi), Uttar Pradesh native Harichandra (33, who lives in New Delhi); and Uttar Pradesh native Chandraban, 38; were nabbed by the Kadavanthra police.
All the stolen goods, including Rs 70,000, 4 mobile phones, 2 watches with one worth Rs 1.5 lakh, $ 411 (Rs 21,200) and 20 sovereigns of gold ornaments, were recovered from the accused and from a bag at their place of residence.
If they had not been caught by Sunday, the accused would have ‘cleaned out’ the city, according to senior police officers.
Smart probe
City Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) V U Kuriakose said that the accused were arrested by the police after they worked tirelessly for an entire day and night. Last Friday, the police noticed that homes in the city were being broken into during the day when the residents were out. Two burglaries were reported within the jurisdiction of the Kadavanthra police, two in Elamkara, one in Palarivattom, and one in Ernakulam north area.
As the locks were found to be broken in the same manner to enter the houses, the probe officers deduced that the same gang was behind all the incidents. This was confirmed during a check carried out using the dog squad.
The police also found the visuals of the thieves from the CCTV camera installed by the residents' association at Keerthi Nagar in Elamakkara. They initially found footage of the thieves, dressed in pants and shirt, casually walking along the road. But then the police found visuals of them walking along the same road several times within short intervals and keenly observing the surroundings. And the police got a rough idea about the thieves.
Subsequently, the top police officers met on Saturday night. The meeting that began at 10pm went on till 1am, and a special probe team was set up that included cops from all the police stations in the city.
The cops also started a 'special combing' at the places where migrant workers resided, and the main hotels and lodges where they stayed upon arriving in the city. The police soon found that three people, who resembled the suspects, had stayed at a hotel near the north area and they had vacated the room.
CCTV key
All the CCTV cameras in the city, including the live feed cameras, were under the close surveillance of the police from Sunday morning. Cops, in mufti, were also deployed across the city. And the police received images of the accused walking near a vegetarian restaurant in the Ernakulam North area. Upon identifying the accused,the police rushed to the spot and took them into custody.
Mobile location
The police had found an active cell phone number at the place where the accused were staying. When this number was traced, it was found that the number was in Delhi on the evening of April 21 but had reached within the limits of a mobile tower in Kochi four hours later. And it was suspected that the accused had flown down to Kochi to carry out the burglaries.
The cops got a confirmation on this after the name of Mintu, one of the accused, was found on the airport passengers' list. Mintu was also found to be an accused in several other theft cases, including one in Thrissur. Two of the accused had landed in Kochi on a GoAir flight on April 9. The police have also recovered a scooter, suspected to have been used by the thieves.
