The city police on Friday arrested a man wanted in connection with several cons in the State and outside.
The police had been on the lookout for Naren, 47, a native of Satara in Maharashtra, after a man had stolen two watches from a luxury watch store at a shopping mall in the city in February this year.
The man had visited the store is smart clothing and ordered two watches together worth Rs.3.5 lakh.
He asked for the watches to be delivered at a star hotel in the city where he said he was staying, with payment to be made on delivery.
The store sent two of its personnel with the watches to the hotel, who found the man waiting for them in the lobby.
He said he would get the money from his room and vanished without a trace. When the crime was registered with the police, officials of a bank in the city came forward saying a similar crime had been attempted at one of their branches.
A well-dressed man had walked into their branch a day before the theft at the watch store. He had similarly asked for gold coins to be delivered at another hotel in the city. However, the vigilant bank staff became suspicious and the man fled when he realised his game was up.
The city police had obtained his images from the CCTVs at the bank and mall and circulated them to other stations.
Tip-off
The police managed to arrest Naren when he arrived at a bank at Kundannoor, allegedly to pull off a similar crime.
A communication from the Central police said city police commissioner K.G. James had received a tip-off regarding the attempt.
Later, the police found that he had similar crimes registered against him at Panangad, Nadakkavu in Kozhikode, and Sanjeev Reddy police station in Hyderabad.
The police said he had left Kochi for Kozhikode after the con in February and stolen gold worth Rs.2 lakh.
He also allegedly stole gold worth Rs.15 lakh from a jewellery store in Kundannoor. In Hyderabad, he allegedly made away with 40 grams of gold from a financier’s office.
Police custody
A team of city police is to visit Mumbai to conduct further investigations. The police at Panangad, in Kozhikode and Hyderabad will be given custody of him later.
