When the Thiruvananthapuram rural shadow police began tracking the culprits of 2016 Kilimanoor jewellery robbery case, it never crossed the minds of the team members that they would have to share bedspace with the accused and cook them food for three consecutive days.
Indeed, that was what happened when the shadow team led by Thanseem Abdul Samad stormed into an apartment where the accused were lying low after stealing about 100 sovereigns of gold and `7 lakh in cash from a jewellery owner at Kilimanoor in September 2016.
Though the cops initially were clueless about the culprits, they had finally managed to find some clues about who might have pulled off the heist. To confirm that, the shadow team was sent to Karunagapally.
There, the cops to their dread found that the gang members had all left for Bengaluru and had been living there for some time.
That was when the team members requested the intervention of IPS officer Shefeen Ahamed, who passed away on Monday. Shefeen was then working as the Thiruvananthapuram rural police chief, and it was on his insistence that the shadow team immediately left for Bengaluru on short notice.
An officer, who was part of the shadow squad, remembered that it was the determination of the late IPS officer that gave them confidence to immediately set off to the neighboring state without any second thought.
“We were not prepared to leave for Bengaluru. We were planning to come back and then go to Bengaluru. Shefeen sir asked us whether we were willing to travel directly instead of reporting back at Thiruvananthapuram to save time,” the officer says.
“He told us to purchase clothes and basic necessities and arranged accommodation for us in Bengaluru using his contacts there. And money required for the journey was credited when we were on the move.”
The cops had reached Bengaluru following digital clues. All they knew was that the culprits were staying in one of the apartments in BTM Layout.
However, pinpointing their locations was like finding a needle in a haystack.
The place housed thousands of independent apartments and numerous gated societies, and scouring through each one of them was humanly impossible.
However, the IPS officer’s biggest help was something else that changed the outcome of the probe. He contacted his counterparts in the Bengaluru police and sought help from the Karnataka intelligence to locate the apartment where the gang was staying.
The Karnataka intelligence soon responded, and they summoned a meeting of all the real-estate brokers of BTM Layout, where pictures of the accused were shown. One of the brokers, who had helped them get the apartment on rent, identified them. The job was half done.
The apartment was located, and the cops, without much of an effort, broke into it. But much to their chagrin, they found that the main accused had left for Kozhikode to sell the gold, leaving behind only his sidekicks.
“We were caught in a fix. Since there are thousands of Keralites living nearby, we could not leave the house just like that. The news of police action would then reach the main accused, who would flee the cops again. We assessed that he would return soon and hence decided to wait in the house itself,” the officer added.
During these days, the cops managed to buy provisions from shops outside and cook food inside.
“If we went out to buy food from outside, it might evoke suspicion among others. So we stocked up on staple items and prepared food at home. The men under our custody, we fed them, and we stayed among them,” the officer added.
The efforts paid off on the fourth day. There was a knock at the door. When the door was opened, the cops were confronted by the main accused.
An intense fight broke out, following which the culprits were subdued. The arrests helped the cops successfully retrieve the booty.