The police on Thursday arrested three shop owners on the charge of selling cellular phone subscriptions by accepting forged documents from buyers as proof of identity. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Neyyattinkara, P. Gopakumar identified the suspects as Zakir Hussain, Bijumon, and Binish. They were produced before the court on the charges of impersonation and forgery for the purpose of cheating, and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
Mr. Gopakumar said the racket had come to light when the police were investigating a case relating to the harassment of a woman on mobile phone by unknown persons. The police found the subscription had been issued by a dealer in Parassala. They found the vendor had sold the connection to an yet-to-be-identified person after accepting the voter's identification card of a woman who had died a year ago.
CI suspended
State Police Chief Jacob Punnoose on Thursday suspended Circle Inspector of Police, Attingal, B. Anil Kumar, on the charge of colluding with illegal sand and granite miners in his area of jurisdiction.
Officials said the Mr. Punnoose had acted upon an internal enquiry report against the CI submitted by District Police Chief A. Akbar. They said Mr. Akbar had enquired about the officer after he received photographs and clippings showing the CI abetting illegal sand-mining operations.
They said the CI also had an illegal nexus with a politically influential illegal granite miner in Attingal, who was now in judicial custody on the charge of illegally stocking explosives. Earlier, Mr. Akbar had suspended Sub Inspector, Attingal, K.V. Mukesh, on similar charges.
Arrested
The Kazhakuttom police have arrested six persons in connection with the armed attack on the house of a government contractor on Wednesday evening. Sub Inspector, Kazhakuttom, V. Rajesh Kumar, identified the accused as Tripathapuram Anish, Sreekariyam Sharath, Ambalathinkara Rajan, Manvila Rajesh, Pongumoodu Abhilash, and Tripadapuram Ajin. He said the suspects were accused in several attempt-to-murder, assault, and extortion cases in the district.
He said they had trespassed on the contractor's house and demanded a huge sum to procure bail for their gangleader Makiri Lalu. They assaulted the contractor and his mother, and damaged property, including three vehicles, when he refused to heed their demand.
They were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.
Italian citizen dead
A 51-year-old Italian citizen collapsed and died on the stairs of a beach resort at Varkala on Thursday. Sub Inspector, Varkala, T.S. Sivaprakash, identified the deceased as Carrescia Maria Luciana (Passport number E679139). He said her death could have been because of a massive heart attack. Ms. Luciana had arrived in India on November 11. The police have registered a case of unnatural death and alerted the Italian Embassy in New Delhi. The police said her body would be embalmed and sent to Italy after post-mortem examination.
64 warrants executed
The Fort police on Wednesday night arrested 64 persons wanted in different cases registered in the sub division. Assistant Commissioner, Fort, M. Radhakrishnan Nair and Circle Inspector, Thampanoor, Sheen Tharayil led the operations which led to the arrest of 72 persons on the charge of drunk driving. As many as 32 motorbikes without ownership records were confiscated and their riders detained for verification.
