‘Naked thief’ in police custody

The Thiruvananthapuram rural police on Saturday arrested a Tamil Nadu native for cases of alleged thefts that were reported in the region recently.

The police shadow wing apprehended Edwin Jose, 28, from Aarudesam in Kanyakumari. The accused had gained notoriety as the ‘naked thief’ with his modus operandi involving breaking into houses, wearing nothing except an underwear on his head. He was arrested by the Neyyattinkara police.

The accused is said to have broken into over 25 houses in Neyyattinkara, Parassala and nearby places that he identified while roaming around on a stolen motorcycle. He would then strip naked and wear his underwear on his head, before arming himself with a wire cutter and breaking into houses through the rear doors. The series of thefts, undertaken by the ‘naked thief, send the region into panic, leading to situations where local residents formed vigilante groups in places including Vellarada, Panachimoodu and Uchakkada with innocent persons found under mysterious circumstances being beaten up. He was identified through CCTV visuals when he broke into a house in Nedumangad, following which District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram rural) P. Asok Kumar formed a probe team.

It later emerged that the accused was involved in cases reported in Pudukadai, Karungal, Kollankodu and Nidravila and Kaliyikkavila in Kanyakumari. His details were obtained with help from the Tamil Nadu police. He had recently enrolled at a law college near Parassala. He had been arrested for alleged thefts in the past.