Kollam: A 48-year-old man who finished his prison sentence for robbery last month has been arrested over the burglary at the ancestral home of former Kerala minister and Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Shibu Baby John. The cops recovered 53 sovereign gold ornaments from him.
Ramesh, alias Rasathi Ramesh, a native of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, was arrested from Nagercoil on Monday, two days after the crime.
His luck ran out as he tried to sell the stolen gold ornaments at a jewellery shop in Nagercoil. The jeweller grew suspicious and informed the police.
Soon after the burglary came to light, the Kerala Police had alerted the police stations along the border districts.
The burglary took place at the house of late Baby John, who was a legendary figure in Kerala politics.
From Palakkad to Kollam
Ramesh, who was released from the Palakkad district jail on April 30, had taken a train to Kollam, and was roaming around the railway station and surrounding areas. He monitored the houses in the nearby areas during the night. He realised that no one stayed at night at the '105 Vayalil Veedu', the house of the politician, located at Upasana Nagar at Kadanmukku in the Kollam east village.
He then broke open the front door of the house on Saturday night and stole the gold ornaments from the almirah kept in the bedroom.
Swift probe
The police identified the accused within hours of the burglary and nabbed him in a couple of days.
The burgled house lacked CCTV surveillance. Police checked the CCTV images from the nearby houses and shops.
A special team led by the Kollam district police chief handed over the CCTV images of the suspect to the Tamil Nadu police.
The Nagercoil police informed the Kollam city police after taking the accused in custody.
The team led by Kollam district police chief T Narayanan included assistant police commissioner G D Vijayakumar, Kollam east inspector R Ratheesh, sub-inspectors Balachandran and Rajmohan; and Civil police officers Sunil, Ranjith, Sanoj, Binu and Jalaja.
Ramesh would be brought to Kerala and produced in court along with the stolen ornaments.
