In a special 24-hour combing operation, the city police have nabbed as many as 500 persons who had been evading the police for long time.
A total of 179 accused against whom warrants had been pending were nabbed in the drive led by City Police Commissioner H Venkitesh. The arrested included Sarath Chandran of Anayara, an accused in many fake cheque cases, and Sarith residing at Chennilode colony who is an accused in several assault cases. The arrest of Sarath Chandran was recorded at Pettah police station and that of Sarith was Medical College Police Station.
Two persons were apprehended under the Goonda Act (KAPPA) in the drive. They were identified as Subhashkumar alias Suma of Thrivikramangalam, Thamalam and Binu alias Peelu Binu of Payattuvila. The duo, who were at large, are accused in several criminal cases, the police said.
A total of 12 persons, who are accused in criminal cases, were also nabbed in the combing drive. This included Sulaiman of Paruthikkuzhi, Afsal and Ansar of Thiruvallom, Nishath of Vayyamoola, Biju, Jayan alias Ettu Jayan of Kanjirampara and Mariyappan of Valiyasala. Sulaiman is an accused in woman abuse case, Afsal and Ansar in several cases including attempt to murder, Nishanth in destroying public property, Biju and Jayan in skirmish cases and Mariyappan in theft case. Manu of Ooruruttambalam, Nithin alias Aneesh of Paudikkonam and Santhosh alias Chanthu who were facing charges of vehicle theft in many districts across the state were nabbed in the combing under the Medical College police station.
Arjunan of Melatannur, Karamana, was arrested with ganja on the Medical College Hospital premises.
Sooraj and Natesan, employees of a private hospital, who allegedly hacked and injured a woman colleague were also nabbed during the drive. A total of 86 persons were taken in to custody for drunken driving and 60 were arrested for drinking in public place. As many as 2500 vehicles were examined and cases were registered against 1250 persons for various violations under the Motor Vehicles Act. Around 100 another cases were registered for traffic rule violations.
The combing was conducted after closing all the roads that lead to the city. The drive was a part of beefing up the security in the city on the Easter day. Venkitesh, in a press statement issued here on Sunday, said that the combing would be continued in the coming days.