Valapattanam theft: Neighbour confesses to committing crime

Kannur: Police on Monday arrested the key suspect in the Valapattanam theft case in which Rs 1.24cr in cash and a total 267 sovereigns of gold were stolen from the locked house of a businessman two weeks ago. The arrested person, Lijeesh, is the neighbour of the victim K P Ashraf, a wholesale rice trader. The police team took Lijeesh, a welding worker, into custody last day after the investigation led to his involvement in the crime. In the detailed interrogation, he confessed to the crime and revealed his involvement in other similar robbery cases reported in the district, said Kannur city police commissioner Ajith Kumar. Meanwhile, the probe team recovered the stolen money and gold ornaments from Lijeesh's house. In connection with the investigation, police had checked around 115 call detail records (CDR) and 100 CCTV footage collected from various locations in the state and outside the state. It also examined the fingerprints of around 75 persons and observed 67 burglars who used a similar mode of operandi. Further, statements were collected from 215 persons, informed the police.The theft took place on Nov 20 when Ashraf and his family were away in Madurai in Tamil Nadu to attend a marriage function. They departed from the house on Nov 19 and returned on Nov 24. The robbery came to light when the family reached home and found the valuables kept in a locker missing. An FIR was registered based on the complaint lodged by Ashraf on Nov 25 and a 20 member team was also formed to probe the case. Dog squad and fingerprint experts were also deployed to collect evidence.The city police commissioner said the probe probe team had searched 35 lodges and conducted cell tower dump analysis from Kozhikode to Mangaluru to get a lead in the major theft case. However, a vital clue was received from a CCTV footage collected from the house of Ashraf. The CCTV camera captured a bald-headed man, similar to the accused. Further, his fingerprint collected from the crime scene matched with a fingerprint collected from another theft scene. Following this, police Lijeesh into custody and interrogated him. Though he denied his involvement in the crime during the initially, he confessed to committing it when police presented evidence leading to his involvement, police said. The accused was later produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody.