KOCHI: A Malayattoor man accused in 21 cases and hiding in a remote village in Tamil Nadu for the past eight years was arrested by the Ernakulam Rural police on Friday.
A team of officers nabbed Manoj alias Luna Manoj – the prime accused in a murder attempt case registered in the Kalady police station in 2016 from the neighbouring state after tracing his digital footprints. Manoj and a group of six persons, out of personal enmity, attempted to murder a youth in Kadappara near Malayattoor in 2016. Soon after, Manoj absconded. He switched off his mobile phone and had no contact with his family members for several years.
The police then proceeded to arrest five accused persons, who were later convicted by the court a few years ago. After Vaibhav Saxena took charge as the Ernakulam Rural Police Chief, he decided to launch a manhunt for Manoj.
“We started to track mobile phone calls received by Manoj’s family members. Their bank account transactions were followed. Also, we were alert regarding the use of his Aadhaar card as identity proof for various services, like procuring SIM cards,” said the police.
Recently, the cops found that Manoj’s kin were receiving phone calls from an unknown number, and started tracking the number. “We found that Manoj was staying in Krishnan Kovil village and arrested him,” the police said. He was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.