Interstate thief who stole 45 sovereigns of gold from Kozhikode house arrested

The Kozhikode police have arrested an interstate thief who stole 45 sovereigns of gold from the house of a doctor at Chevarambalam near Chevayur last month. The accused, Tapas Kumar Saha from Ran Ghat in West Bengal, was taken into custody by a special investigation team from his hometown.

According to the police, the theft occurred on September 28 at the residence of Dr Gayathri. Tapas allegedly took away 45 sovereigns of gold kept in an almirah and a drawer, along with ₹10,000 in cash.

The family left for their native in Thiruvallam, Thiruvananthapuram, on August 11 and discovered the burglary upon returning on September 28, finding the front door broken and valuables missing.

CCTV visuals collected from the house and its neighbourhood showed the accused entering and leaving the residence in the early hours of September 28. Police said that after the robbery, he went to a nearby under-construction house, stayed there until 6 am, and later took an auto-rickshaw from Chevarambalam.

With the help of the cyber cell, police traced his phone number by matching tower locations with CCTV footage collected from 220 spots. They then nabbed him from his hometown with the help of Ran Ghat police after confirming his exact location. 

Police said the accused had travelled to several states by train solely to commit thefts. They added that Tapas is a drug addict and has the habit of travelling alone to different places in search of targets for theft and leaving the location on the same day after committing the crime. He has been booked in several theft and drug-related cases in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and his native state of West Bengal.

The arrest was carried out by a team led by Assistant Commissioner A Umesh (Medical College), along with Chevayur Station House Officer Mahesh, Sub-Inspectors Nimin K Divakaran and Mijo Jose, CPO Vijnesh, and Cyber Cell officers Skylesh and Prajith from Kozhikode City.