KOCHI: Abhilash aka Para Abhilash. For the uninitiated, that name does not ring any bell nor inspire dread or awe like some other established criminals, the cocky ones, who vie for being in the limelight and make their presence felt in a ‘mass’ manner. But for the law enforcement agencies in the state, he is a big fish, for whom they had been viciously on the run for the past three years.
A man in his the mid-30s, Abhilash has been the biggest supplier of cannabis to the state from the hinterlands of Odisha. A man who shuns publicity and prefers to operate from anonymity, Abhilash accounted for half or more of the cannabis being smuggled into the state. Earlier this week, the Thiruvananthapuram rural police with the help of the District Anti-narcotics Special Action Force (DANSAF) managed to arrest him from Tamil Nadu, wrapping up three years of cat-and-mouse game. He had come to Tamil Nadu to celebrate Diwali, when he was nabbed.
A native of Edavacode in Sreekaryam, Abhilash had a criminal bent of mind from a young age and got engaged in about two dozen criminal cases. However, after coming out of bail in one of the cases, he fled to Odisha with the help of the drug rackets and evolved as the main supplier of cannabis to Kerala. According to the police, he bought cannabis from the local people and then supplied it to Keralites, who reached the Andhra-Odisha border for pickup.
“He has so far supplied several tonnes of cannabis to drug dealers from the state. His arrest has been a relief for us. We feel the cannabis supply will now come down by several notches,” said an officer. Attingal Inspector C C Prathapachandran, who is part of the investigation, said Abhilash thrived in obscurity and avoided mobile phones and even transactions via bank accounts to remain undetected.
It was the probe into the seizure of 200 kg of cannabis from Venjaramoodu in July that led us to him. We came to know that he had supplied the contraband to the dealers at the Odisha-Andhra border. We collected more information about him from the other arrested peddlers and finally managed to get our hands on him,” he said. The police had earlier attempted to ensnare him from Koraput in Odisha, but somehow he came to know about the trap and escaped to the forest. “There is large-scale cannabis cultivation in Odisha hinterlands, where the Naxals hold their sway. He operated on those regions as he knew the local dialect as well,” said another source.
Curiously, Abhilash has been spending the proceeds from smuggling to financially support the families of incarcerated cannabis dealers and to get them bail. “He used to give `10,000 to each household of the arrested peddlers every month,” said an officer. According to the police, Abhilash does not own a single parcel of land or bank account in Kerala.
“We found it rather surprising. A supplier of his status should be having a huge fortune. But as of now, we have not come across any personal fortune of his,” said an officer.
Case diary
This weekly column brings you exciting, intriguing police stories, straight from the crime files