The Ernakulam Rural police were spared blushes after they managed to rearrest an accused in a spate of thefts and robberies within hours after he escaped their custody in the late night hours on Tuesday.
Suresh aka Dracula Suresh, 30, nicknamed for his ability to pull off thefts and robberies in the cover of night, had fled the police detention centre at Karukutty where the arrested accused are kept till their COVID test results are out, They are moved to the jail only if they test negative for SARS-COV-2.
According to the police, he was brought to the detention centre handcuffed to another accused. As soon as his wrist was released from the handcuff he took to heels and escaped using the cover of night.
K. Karthik, District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural), immediately formed a special team to track down the accused and a district-wide manhunt was launched at the end of which he was nabbed from a house at Vengola in Perumbavoor. The police said that the search team had to overpower him as the accused turned violent and tried to attack them.
The accused, infamous for robberies and thefts, was arrested last week on charge of looting a shop at Perumbavoor. He has over 20 cases against him in Kochi city, Alappuzha, Idukki and Thrissur districts.
The police said that he was habitually violent and attacked the police and damaged police vehicles whenever he was arrested. He had allegedly attempted to escape police custody even in the past and and even resorted to self-harm as a ploy.
A team led by inspector C. Jayakumar, Sub Inspector Radhakrishnan, Assistant Sub Inspectors V.K. Vinod and Rajendran, and Civil Police Officers Rupesh, Sijo Paul and Siyad made the arrest.
The police have heightened his security at the detention centre even as his COVID test result is being awaited.