A man wanted for a ₹15 crore theft in Maharashtra, was nabbed by the Idukki District Police and a Nashik police team, from a resort in Wagamon.

Titus George (36), a native of the Puthupariyaram village in Palakkad, was a member of a gang of 13 individuals, who robbed a businessman travelling along the Mumbai-Nashik highway, according to Antony, an officer from the Idukki Police LP squad (a special team for tracking absconding criminals) that carried out the arrest.

“The businessman was travelling with ₹15 crore in his car when he was intercepted by the group,” Antony said. “The accused had prior information from the businessman’s associates that he would be carrying such a large amount, and they planned the theft accordingly,” he told Onmanorama.

“After stopping the car, the gang abducted the businessman and stole the vehicle along with the cash. Though they later abandoned the car, the group fled with the money and had been in hiding since,” he added.

Following the incident, the Nashik Police registered a case and launched an investigation. “They had already arrested around eight members of the gang but were still trying to trace the main accused, Titus,” Antony said.

After apprehending another accused, identified as Joby from Palakkad, and questioning him, the police received information that Titus was hiding in Wagamon.

Acting on this tip-off, Nashik Police, with the assistance of the Idukki LP squad, arrested Titus from a resort in Pullikkanam on April 22.

Police said the accused was also involved in three other theft cases registered at Kallikode Police Station in Palakkad and Chithode Police Station in Erode, Tamil Nadu.

Antony said the stolen money had been divided among the accused and that a portion of it was recovered. He added that two to three accused were still absconding. “We kept the news of Titus’s arrest confidential as a few accused are yet to be apprehended,” he said.

Titus and Joby, along with the other accused who had already been taken into custody, were remanded to judicial custody and handed over to the Nashik Police.