Joggers help police nab junk collectors suspected of theft

KOCHI: Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium area and the Stadium Link Road in Kaloor are favourite places for joggers in the city. There was an unexpected crowding there on Monday, after a few joggers detained a man and a woman collecting scrap on suspicion of involvement in a theft incident in the city. 

The police patrolling team rushed to the spot and booked the duo. A group of joggers noticed the workers from another state collecting junk papers and metal from the roadside. A jogger identified the scrap collectors as the persons allegedly involved in the theft of copper wire worth over `1 lakh from his friend Renju Sagaran’s warehouse at Azad Road in December last year. 

Soon, they informed Renju who had seen them in the CCTV footage collected after the theft, and he identified them. “I am fully confident that they are the same persons involved in the theft of around 150 metres of copper wire in December last year. After the incident, we managed to track them down to Geenthanjali lane near Chalikkavattom. Along with a civil police officer of Ernakulam North station, we reached their house but they escaped. After that incident, we are seeing them now,” Renju said. 

A police team of Palarivattom police station reached the spot and checked their trolley. “We found a frame of the cutting blade, wire cutter, metal bending tool and spanners. We took the two to the station,” a police officer said.

As Renju’s warehouse is under Ernakulam North station limit, information was passed to the station. 
“As we could not recover any stolen materials, we have asked Ernakulam North police officials to check the matter. A decision on releasing the duo or handing them to North police will be taken only after receiving further information,” the officer said.