KOCHI: It was supposed to be a routine vehicle check on Thursday for a team of city police officers. But suspicion over the registration number led to the arrest of a most-wanted criminal in the state who had been on the run for the past few months.
Ramshad, 27, a Malappuram resident, was roaming around under the guise of an autorickshaw driver to steal vehicles. An accused in around 30 cases, including burglary and vehicle thefts, he had escaped from the Manjeri jail, a police officer said.
On examining a suspicious-looking goods autorickshaw, the officers found that it had a fake registration number, which was of a motorcycle. Subsequently, the driver, Ramshad, was taken into custody. On interrogation, he confessed he had stolen several vehicles in the city.
Earlier, the police had arrested a Mattanchery resident on charges of vehicle theft. He revealed that a notorious thief, specialising in vehicle thefts, was active in the city. “He was involved in six theft cases in Thirurangadi, seven in Manjeri, four in Kondotty, and one each in Vellayil, Medical College, Vadakara, Malappuram, Vazhakkal and Perinthalmanna police station limits. Besides, he had attempted to escape from the Manjeri jail twice. The Kondotty police station had registered a case against him for robbery too,” the officer said.
With the assistance of the cyber cell, the officers learnt that Ramshad used to visit the Ernakulam North railway station area. Though the police spread the net to catch him, he managed to escape arrest for three days. He was picked up from the area by a team led by Central SHO S Vijayashankar.
With the arrest of Ramshad, the Ernakulam Central police are receiving inquiries from various police stations, including Munambam, Varapuzha, Chalakudy, Koratty, Puthukad, Feroke and Kozhikode city. The police will seeking custody of the accused for further interrogation, the officer said.