The Kalady police have arrested a 28-year-old Tamil Nadu native, who is a key member of an inter-State racket stealing tyres of heavy goods vehicles plying on the State’s roads.
The arrested has been identified as Akbar Ali, a native of Gudallur in Theni district.
He was nabbed during an investigation into a case in which eight tyres of a trailer truck parked at a saw mill at Marottichodu near Kalady were stolen.
The accused, who is a driver of a goods vehicle transporting vegetables to Kerala, used to target heavy vehicles that are parked on the roadside and sell off their tyres at Cumbum.
During interrogation, he confessed to making away with a bike from Oonnukal while returning to Theni after stealing tyres.
He is also involved in a series of similar tyre thefts reported from Angamaly, Kalady, Perumbavoor, Vazhakkulam, Ponkunnam in Kottayam district, and Enathu and Koodal in Pathanamthitta district.
The accused was produced before a magistrate and remanded to custody.
