Meet ‘Porotta’ Aneesh, the thief who cooked himself a meal before fleeing with ₹25,000 from Palakkad hotel
The thief, before fleeing helped himself to porottas, reheated leftover beef fry, and even fried an omelette in the hotel kitchen
The thief, before fleeing helped himself to porottas, reheated leftover beef fry, and even fried an omelette in the hotel kitchen
The thief, before fleeing helped himself to porottas, reheated leftover beef fry, and even fried an omelette in the hotel kitchen
Palakkad: When the staff at Moon City Hotel in Chandranagar reviewed their CCTV footage after losing a sum of ₹25,000 and an Apple charger from the premises, they were in for a surprise. The visuals showed an intruder casually rummaging through the fridge and cooking himself a lavish dinner. The man in question, Shivakumar alias ‘Porotta’ Aneesh (48), a native of Marthandam in Tamil Nadu, carried out the theft on May 21. But before fleeing, he helped himself to porottas, reheated leftover beef fry, and even fried an omelette in the hotel kitchen.
He reportedly entered the hotel through a 25 cm wide gap between the door and an iron grill. Aneesh, who saw a light through the hotel window, after finishing his meal mistook it for police presence and quickly fled the way he came. On the same night, he also broke into a nearby car workshop and stole ₹6,000.
Police apprehended Aneesh on Tuesday night, while he was attempting another theft in Palakkad town. “Aneesh has carried out similar burglaries across districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad and Kozhikode. Typically, he targets hotels, shops, workshops, and offices. He steals small amounts of money and live lavishly for a few days,” SCPO at Palakkad Kasaba Police station Rajeed told Onmanorama.
True to his name, Aneesh had his favourite dish even while being taken for evidence collection. “When he came with the police, he said he was hungry. We had Porotta and beef, we gave it to him and he ate it without any hesitation” says Geo Thomas, the hotel owner.
Despite having multiple cases registered against him over the years, Aneesh often returns to his old ways once released. He has no fixed residence and moves frequently across districts via train and bus.
The investigation into the Moon City Hotel incident was led by Palakkad Kasaba Inspector Sujith M and a team, including SI Harshad H and senior civil police officers. Aneesh was located after police collected local leads and cross-referenced similar break-ins.