Kottayam: The elusive mastermind behind the sensational Manganam villa burglary, where 50 sovereigns of gold were looted while the residents were away at the hospital, has finally fallen into police net. Guru Sajan alias Mahesh (41), hailing from the notorious Jamda village in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, was tracked down and arrested in Gujarat by a joint operation of the district police squad and Kottayam East police led by SI Akhil Vijayan. The stolen jewellery, however, remains untraced.

Jamda – a crime hub
Jamda is no ordinary village. Known as a breeding ground for hardened criminals, it thrives on fake narcotics, illegal arms, and intergenerational gangs. Every household here is said to have someone involved in crime. Sajan handpicked four associates from his village and ventured to Kerala. After trial burglaries in Alappuzha and Thrissur to sharpen their skills, the gang set their sights on the plush villas of Manganam.

The night of the heist
On that fateful night, while octogenarian Annamma Thomas (84) and her daughter Sneha B Philip (54) rushed to hospital in an ambulance, Sajan’s gang struck. Around 2 am, they smashed open the front door, raided a ground-floor bedroom, and ripped open an iron cupboard. Jewellery worth nearly ₹36 lakh vanished in minutes.

The gang also targeted a nearby wellness clinic, making away with documents, pendrives, and ₹1,000 in cash. CCTV footage later revealed that the culprits had disguised themselves to resemble migrant labourers. Fingerprint analysis linked the burglary to Sajan, also wanted in a 2016 Karnataka railway station case of similar nature.

Sajan is on the Karnataka police list of most-wanted fugitives. He is also accused in a case where a treasury was attacked and a gun looted, along with several other theft cases. Arresting him from Jamda, a forest-fringe village, was extremely difficult. Police had to spend several days in the area. In 2020, Madhya Pradesh police had entered the village to capture five accused wanted in 24 cases, including 14 major robberies, three thefts, and three murder attempts. Rewards of up to ₹2 lakh had been announced for information on them.

During detailed investigations, it was found that Sajan was no longer in Jamda but was working at a hollow brick manufacturing unit in Gujarat. Acting on the instructions of District Police Chief A Shahul Hameed, the team traced him to Gujarat, where he was living with his family near the factory. He occasionally travelled with gang members for burglary operations.