Three held for serial thefts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district police have arrested three men allegedly engaged in interdistrict burglary. Ratheesh, 35, of Avanavancherry, Shaji aka Phantom Paily, 38, of Varkala and Ashwin, 23, of Peringammala were arrested in a joint operation of Pallikkal police and the rural shadow team. The police said Ratheesh and Shaji had more than 100 cases each against their names across the state.

The trio were nabbed during a probe into a series of house thefts in Pallikkal, Kallambalam, Ayiroor and Varkala police stations. Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP P K Madhu had formed a special team to nab the culprits and it was during their probe that the cops managed to arrest the trio. According to the police, the threemember team had committed robbery in Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts. The gang used to locate uninhabited houses by roaming in stolen bikes and commit thefts.

The police claimed to have recovered two bikes from the accused. The stolen gold that was pledged with a private financier in Tamil Nadu was also recovered. The three had fled to Tamil Nadu after the cops intensified a search for them. To escape police, they chose to travel along railway track and avoided inter-state check points. Though the cops had earlier identified their hideout in Thoothukudi, the trio managed to hoodwink the sleuths. They later reached Kerala by train and were planning the next operation when they were nabbed.