Thief who escaped from custody nabbed

Thiruvananthapuram: A notorious thief, who had managed to escape from Covid first-line treatment centre at Varkala four weeks ago after being arrested for a theft case, has been caught again. Babu alias Theevetti Babu, 61, of Puthankulam in Kollam district is the accused.
According to police, Babu was caught again on Friday evening by a team led by Pallickal sub-inspector Aji G Nath and Varkala station-house officer inspector G Gopakumar when he was travelling on a stolen motorcycle.
Babu was arrested last month in connection with a burglary case in Kallambalam police station limits. He was remanded in judicial custody by court. Following this, his Covid-screening test was taken and he was sent to the CFLTC at Varkala as remanded prisoners would be moved to prisons only if their result is negative. But, Babu managed to escape from the centre. He had the help of another accused, Rajesh alias Makkan Rajesh. He too was arrested for theft by Fort police in the city. Rajesh is yet to be traced.
Varkala SHO inspector G Gopakumar said Babu went to Kottayam district after escaping and committed a series of thefts there. These include the theft of two motorcycles and two burglaries – one in a shop and other in a house.
“When caught, he was riding one of the stolen motorcycles that belonged to a person at Thalayolaprambu,’’ the inspector said. Following his arrest, the other stolen vehicle, which incidentally belonged to a policeman in Kottayam, has also been recovered.
Babu is a notorious thief who is involved in more than 100 theft cases in and outside the state. He has been actively doing crimes for more than 30 years. Despite getting arrested numerous times, he always resumed his criminal activities soon after getting released every time. He is also notorious for injuring himself in a bid to commit suicide whenever he is caught red handed during theft attempts. A few years ago, Parippally police in Kollam had booked him and his son for allegedly extorting money from guest workers.