An investigation into the theft of a lorry from Kanjiramkulam went beyond the State borders and ended with the arrest of a notorious smuggler, along with the recovery of the lorry, from Andhra Pradesh (AP).
The lorry, a mammoth 10-wheeled Tata Taurus, went missing from Kanjiramkulam on October 2, following which a police team led by S. Chandrakumar, Circle Inspector (Parassala), set out on the investigation. Keeping in mind that such lorries were usually stolen and taken beyond the borders, the team began its probe along the boundaries.
The first breakthrough came from the Nanguneri Toll Plaza, on the Tirunelveli-Kanyakumari Highway, from where they got CCTV visuals of the lorry. Checking for similar visuals in more toll booths in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the team was able to track the lorry till Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district, with the last visuals being from a booth on the TN-AP border. As the investigation seemed to hit a roadblock, the team noticed visuals of a white Wagon R car as well, that seemed to follow the lorry. The car was traced to a rent-a-car outlet at Kazhakuttam here, and on the dates it was seen with the lorry, Nawaz of Pappanamcode had rented it out.
“Nawaz has theft cases against him in Pathanamthitta and Kollam and we watched him for 10 days, during which he was in touch with Faizal Raj and Vinoop, who were staying in a lodge in Thampanoor. The Cyber Cell tracked their mobile phone signals and found they were together when the lorry was stolen,” Mr. Chandrakumar said.
Their arrest led to Selvaraj, an alleged spirit smuggler from Kanjiramkulam, who confessed that the lorry was sold to Babu Reddy, another notorious illicit spirit mover from Chittoor, AP, who was now into red sanders smuggling.
K. Shefeen Ahamed, SP (Thiruvananthapuram Rural), contacted his Chittoor counterpart, G. Srinivas, who arranged for a squad of 15 armed policemen to help the Kerala team that surrounded Reddy’s farmhouse at 3 a.m. on November 14. He surrendered meekly, and the lorry was found parked in a bushy area nearby.
Car traced to a rent-a-car outlet at Kazhakuttam
Mobile phone signals helped police crack the case
