Sold and resold across 3 states: Kerala police trace missing tipper after 2,500 km chase

Wayanad: Sold, resold and moved across three states, a tipper truck that went missing from Kerala in August was finally traced by the police after a three-month investigation involving more than 2,500 km of travel and around 26 people.

The Thirunelli police recovered the truck from an isolated spot near Omallur, around 80 km from Salem in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday, just hours before it was allegedly due to be moved to a scrapyard and dismantled.

The truck belonged to Anoop, a native of Thrissilery, who had leased it out to a driver for a few days. However, the lessee sold the vehicle to another person without the owner's knowledge or consent, Anoop said in his complaint.

According to the police, the accused had deliberately damaged the truck's GPS tracking system before selling it to prevent the owner from tracing it. The vehicle subsequently changed hands several times, moving from Kerala to Karnataka and then Tamil Nadu.

The investigation led the police team to around 26 people linked to the vehicle's successive sales. On one occasion, when the team traced the first buyer, the accused managed to sell the truck to another person.

With the assistance of the Cyber Cell, the police examined CCTV footage from several locations, checked toll plaza records to reconstruct the truck's route and analysed bank transactions linked to the accused.

The police eventually found the vehicle abandoned near Omallur, where it was awaiting transfer to a scrapyard. Its spare parts were reportedly intended for sale in the second-hand market.

The investigation, monitored by senior police officials, was conducted by a team comprising Civil Police Officers M R Jithin and E G Vinayak, along with other personnel.
The prime accused, however, remains absconding, the police said.