Kollam-native burglar who targeted medical shops lands in police custody

KOCHI: Most thieves follow a pattern which often allows the police to identify them easily. In one such case, the police on Tuesday arrested a 40-year-old Kollam native, who preferred to break into medical shops. A team led by CI Roopesh Raj nabbed Abhilash aka Rajesh after searching over 100 lodges in Kochi, as part of the probe into theft at a medical shop in Palarivattom, from where cash worth `60,000 and a mobile phone were stolen on July 9. 

Rajesh, who has been involved in numerous theft cases, had a particular reason to target medical shops. “He believes that due to the good business at medical shops, the owners leave the daily collection at the billing desk. He steals only hard cash and is not interested in stealing gold or other objects since it is difficult to dispose of. He was involved in a theft at a supermarket in Kochi, but later concentrated  on medical shops,” an officer said.

Though the accused is an alcoholic, he never drinks on the day of  the theft. Another pattern followed by Rajesh is that he breaks into medical shops at 2am and comes out only at daybreak. Police had recovered the CCTV footage of the theft at the medical shop in Palarivattom. The footage was shared with other police stations to identify the accused and it fetched results. Later, with the assistance of Cyber Cell, his tower location was traced near Ernakulam Junction(South) railway station. However, there are over 100 lodges there. “Our team visited all these lodges and managed to track down the accused from the Karikkamuri area,” an officer said.

Police said Rajesh is a master chef who had been put in charge of the kitchen in jail, following his conviction  in a couple of cases.  He has worked as a cook at hotels including one in Thodupuzha here. “Rajesh got married at a young age and he has two children. He uses the loot to lead a luxurious life. Last year, he was released from Kozhikode jail after serving time in a similar case,” an officer said.