KOCHI: A Karnataka youth — allegedly accused in a rape case at Kakkanad and on the run for the past two years —ran out of luck on Sunday after a police team approached him as a buyer for the car he had put up for sale on OLX.
Praveen, 30, a native of Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, fell for the trap when the ‘buyers’ asked him to meet at a designated location in Puttur. On arrival, the cops nabbed him. Praveen had been working as an employee at the Chottanikkara temple. During the time, in 2019, he got into a relationship with a young woman.
The duo decided to marry and started living together after shifting to a flat at Palachuvadu in the city. One day, he came to know that his partner, who told him that she was working as a doctor with a private medical college hospital at Edappally, was jobless.
Subsequently, he began quarrelling with her frequently, forcing their neighbours to raise complaints several times, the police said. Later, Praveen ended the relationship and left the flat.
Meanwhile, the woman, a mother of two, lodged a petition before the Thrikkakara police alleging that Praveen abused her sexually. Thrikkakara ACP Baby constituted a special investigation team to nab the accused.
Subsequently, a team led by Inspector of Police, Thrikkakara, R Shabu traced the location of the accused at Madikeri and followed him. He was working at a private firm there. However, hoodwinking the cops, he escaped to Puttur when the police team arrived.
In the meantime, he posted an ad on OLX to sell his 2019 model car. Noticing this, and posing as car buyers, the police called on the mobile number posted along with the ad to trap him. And the accused caught the bait.
“Praveen was arrested on Sunday night and brought to Kochi,” said Shabu. He was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kakkanad, on Monday and remanded in judicial custody.