THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The Neyyattinkara police on Saturday arrested a law student from Tamil Nadu involved in a slew of theft cases on both sides of the border. Edwin Jose, 28, of Aarudesham in Kanyakumari, was the arrested.
The police said the accused was responsible for committing several thefts in the border areas of both the states in a nude state after painting himself black. He also had the habit of tying undies on his head, a move intended to repel female inhabitants of the houses from coming close.
Police claimed Edwin had committed thefts in almost a dozen houses located under Parassala and Neyyattinkara police station limits. “His modus operandi was smart and startling. He would sneak in by breaking open the rear doors. Cutting tools were used to take gold chains from sleeping women. In case they woke up and made a noise, he would attack them and flee into the darkness outside. His exploits gave sleepless nights to people residing in villages located close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border,” the police said.
The panic stricken people, who had formed vigilant groups, even caught and beat up people lurking in the area, suspecting them to be the actual thief. The police also claimed Edwin had more than a dozen case to his name. They said he was first arrested for theft when he was doing his masters in a college in Tamil Nadu. Thereafter, he went to a Middle-East country and upon returning, he got admission in a law college functioning near Parassala. However, the habit didn’t leave him even then.
After the exploits of the ‘black man’ gave sleepless nights to the inhabitants of the border villages, the police upped their efforts to unmask the identity of the culprit. The statements of the victims also didn’t provide them any leads. Initially, the CCTV footage recovered from the houses where the accused had broke in were examined, but the videos were of poor quality and hence the face was not visible. However, the game changer was a footage that the investigating officers managed to extract from a house near Neyyattinkara. After managing to obtain clear visuals of the culprit, the police team circulated it to various police stations on the Kerala and Tamil Nadu border. The officers on the Tamil Nadu side identified Edwin after comparing the photos they had in their records with that of the video extract. The accused was allegedly leading a luxurious life.