Kottayam gold theft: Duo from TVM held a month after 26 sovereigns stolen from house
Pallickathodu Police arrested two Thiruvananthapuram natives for stealing 26 sovereigns of gold from a locked Kottayam house in August. CCTV footage aided the arrests, though the gold remains unrecovered during ongoing questioning.
Pallickathodu Police arrested two Thiruvananthapuram natives for stealing 26 sovereigns of gold from a locked Kottayam house in August. CCTV footage aided the arrests, though the gold remains unrecovered during ongoing questioning.
Pallickathodu Police arrested two Thiruvananthapuram natives for stealing 26 sovereigns of gold from a locked Kottayam house in August. CCTV footage aided the arrests, though the gold remains unrecovered during ongoing questioning.
Kottayam: A month after 26 sovereigns of gold were stolen from a locked house in Kottayam while the family had gone to the Nedumbassery airport, the Pallickathodu Police have arrested two natives of Thiruvananthapuram in connection with the case.
The accused, Sreekanth and Saritha, were taken into custody in Thiruvananthapuram around 9 pm on Thursday. Police said similar cases were registered against the duo earlier too.
The gold has not yet been recovered. The couple was being questioned on how the theft was carried out and where the stolen ornaments are now, police said.
According to police officials, footage from CCTV cameras installed along nearby roads proved crucial in tracing the suspects. There were no cameras in the immediate vicinity of the house, and investigators had to go through visuals from surrounding routes to identify the people and vehicle linked to the crime.
"We have been behind this case for over a month. Our only clue was the footage from the CCTV. Our search eventually took us to Thiruvananthapuram, from where the accused were arrested," said an officer from the Pallickathodu Police Station.
The theft took place in August, when the family had gone to Nedumbassery Airport to see off their son. The theft came to light only in the afternoon, after neighbours noticed the main door lying open and alerted the family. A milkman who had passed the house in the morning had seen the open door too, but assumed the family was inside and left without raising an alarm.
On returning, the family found that 26 of the 39 sovereigns of gold kept in a shelf were missing. The remaining 13 sovereigns, stored in a small box, had escaped the thief's notice.
Police, forensic experts and a dog squad had examined the house at the time. Officers had also dismissed speculation of an insider job. A house in the same locality had reported an attempted burglary a few days before the incident.
A case was registered under Sections 331(3) and 305(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deal with criminal house-trespass and aggravated theft.