Serial interstate thief trapped, valuables worth 7lakhs recovered
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, June 06, 2016: Addressing media here on Sunday, SP Bhushan G Borase said that Puttur Town Police have nabbed an interstate "Saturday night" thief in connection with several theft casess reported in Puttur, Udupi, Kushalnagar and Palakkad.
The arrested named is Thangaraju alias Raju, 64, a native of Kerala.
DK SP Bhushan G Borase said seven house burglary cases in Puttur, 28 in Udupi, one in Kushalnagar and ten in Palakkad were registered against the accused. Also, a complaint was registered against him in Chennai Central Police Station in 1988, he added.
He said the notorious accused was involved in a series of break-ins and theft of valuables in Puttur between January and May. On May 20, the police found a man behaving in a suspicious manner, holding a plastic bag near Shivanagara Cross and he tried to flee looking at the police jeep. But was caught. He has stolen gold, silver and other valuable articles from houses in Darbhe, Bolvaru, Parladka, Mukrampadi and Tenkila, he added. He said an iron rod and a torch light have been seized from the accused.
Thangaraju was produced before the court and the court has remanded him to police custody for 14 days. The stolen gold and silver articles have been seized from Erode in Tamil Nadu, Thiroor and Kozhikode in Kerala, Hosadurga in Kasargod where he resides. Suspicious articles were also recovered from various places in Mangaluru and Puttur. The articles, sold to various jewellers, were also seized.
The seized articles include 230.24 gm gold worth Rs 6,20,000, 2.285 kg silver worth Rs 80,000 and two saris. The total value of all stolen items is Rs 7 lakh. Still more valuables are to be seized.
DK SP said the accused searched for locked houses during daytime and broke into them at night. In every case, theft took place on Saturday night as the families go out for weekends.
The investigating team comprised Abdul Khader, Nagarah H E, Skariya M A, Prashanth Shetty and Sharif Nadaf Sab. The team was led by ASP, Puttur, Rithyanth.
The SP has recommended to the department to reward of Rs 25,000 to the investigating team. DK SP Borase said the people should install central door locks to their houses and inform the nearby police station when they are away from the houses for longer time so the night beat constables can keep a vigil.
Burglar alarm should be fixed in the houses, he added. The SP said installation of dummy CCTV cameras is not recommended. The people should keep their jewels in bank lockers and take all precautions, ’Better safe than sorry’.