Agile burglar gets special ‘room service’ by Kochi police

KOCHI: At a time when digital footprints from mobile phone and social media accounts are heavily relied upon for solving crimes, a seasoned burglar who never used a mobile phone posed an old-school challenge for the Hill Palace police station in Kochi.

However, a team led by Station House Officer V Gopakumar pulled off a ‘filmy’ operation that involved precise planning and execution to nab the notorious thief identified as ‘Chinchillam’ Satheesh of Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram from his hideout at Kalamassery in Kochi. On July 14, the police received a complaint that a gold chain was stolen from a scooter parked in front of the Sree Poornathrayesa Temple at Tripunithura.

Though CCTV visuals helped officers identify the suspect, Satheesh, a background check revealed that he had never used a mobile phone. Also, he never stayed at one place for long, as there were several robbery cases pending against him at different police stations in the state.“Records showed he had been released from prison only a month ago,” says Gopakumar.“So, we spoke to his prison-mates and extracted maximum info about him. They revealed he got the moniker ‘Chinchillam’ because he would blabber nonstop for hours while boozing.”

The prison-mates gave several inputs on Satheesh’s likely whereabouts. One of them disclosed he had relocated to Kochi recently and worked at a lodge in Kalamassery.“As we reached the lodge, Satheesh somehow got a whiff,” says Gopakumar.“He escaped by jumping onto the roof of an adjacent building. He was pretty agile, and hopped from one terrace to the other. We chased, but he managed to flee.”

The police noted that Satheesh had left behind a substantial amount of money in his room. They had an hunch he would return for the cash.“The team was instructed to disperse. But a couple of us hid inside the room,” says Gopakumar. “As expected, about 4am, he returned — right into our trap.”