Seven men, allegedly members of a gang responsible for over 50 theft cases in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, were apprehended by a special investigation team of the Attingal police on Monday.
R. Prathapan Nair, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Attingal), said the 13-member gang specialised in breaking into locked houses and living lavishly on the gold, electronic appliances, and cash stolen from them. The gang spread out in Attingal and Nedumangad in Thiruvananthapuram and Kottiyam and Kulathupuzha in Kollam district, coming together for the break-in after identifying a target house.
The arrested were identified as Suresh, 32, of Paravur; Anil Kumar, 39, of Nedumangad; Baiju, 34; Ramanan, 35; and Reny, 32; all of Kottiyam; Ashokan, alias Jumbo Ashokan, 43, of Venjarammoodu; and David Moses alias Vincent of Kulathupuzha.
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They were produced before court and remanded in judicial custody while the hunt for the remaining members of the gang was still on, Mr. Prathapan said.
The arrest, he said, had thrown light on at least 50 theft cases registered in various police stations across Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, including Nedumangad, Kottiyam, Venjarammoodu, Attingal, Chirayinkeezh, Palode, Vattappara, Mangalapuram and Varkala, to name a few.
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Special team
An unusual increase in the number of burglaries in and around Attingal had prompted the police to redeployed the special investigation team that nabbed the gang behind the daylight heist at Popular Finances, near the Attingal sub-treasury, in June this year.
The team made its first breakthrough when it heard that Suresh was spending huge amounts of money in Varkala, mostly in tourist and recreation centres. The arrest of Suresh, from Kottiyam about a week ago, led the team to the rest of the members.
The same gang was allegedly behind the burglary of about 30 sovereigns of gold and nearly Rs.2 lakh in cash from a doctor’s residence near Punalur; a break-in that saw the theft of gold ornaments weighing about 11 sovereigns and several bottles of imported liquor from a house near Attingal; and another loot of about nine sovereigns of gold and around Rs.50,000 in cash from a professor’s house at Attingal.