Inside a police station in rural Ernakulam, officers were recently replaying CCTV visuals of a routine chain-snatching case that had taken place nearby. The suspect’s face was barely visible.
There was nothing dramatic in the visuals. Just another man on a two-wheeler approaching an unsuspecting woman before vanishing with her gold chain within seconds.
For most, it could have passed off as yet another file in Kerala’s growing list of snatching cases. But one police officer paused the footage.
Something about the man’s body language felt familiar. The way he slowed down near the victim. The way he tilted his head while speaking. The nonchalance while leaving the scene.
The officer leaned closer to the screen and voiced a suspicion that would eventually unravel an entire manhunt: Could this be the same habitual offender Suresh (name changed since this is an ongoing case) who had terrorised elderly women across districts for years?
Officers soon pulled out old case files and began comparing the CCTV visuals with records of previous robberies. Slowly, the suspicion hardened into certainty.
The man seen in the footage, police believed, was a notorious chain snatcher with more than 40 criminal cases against him — a serial offender who had been targeting elderly women for years.
“Every few weeks, he would emerge from hiding and scout for elderly women travelling alone or walking through isolated neighbourhoods. He would identify vulnerable targets, approach them with a smile and strike up a friendly conversation. Within seconds, he would snatch their chain and disappear,” says a senior police officer involved in the investigation.
“Once the jewellery was sold and the money exhausted, he would reappear looking for another victim. This was his pattern. He had mastered the art of remaining invisible after every crime.”
The case files also revealed another worrying detail. The accused allegedly had a history of violence. He had previously attacked a police officer while resisting arrest.
Once his identity was confirmed, Ernakulam Rural Police formed a special team to track him down. The first strategy was to keep watch on his family.
The accused had two wives living separately. Both houses were surveillance. After three days, a plainclothes officer noticed unusual activity outside one of the houses. “Household items were suddenly being packed and shifted into a vehicle. The movement appeared hurried and suspicious,” recalls the officer.
Within minutes, more undercover officers reached the area. The accused, however, never arrived. Officers decided to follow the vehicle, and traced the family’s new residence. The surveillance operation continued.
“We knew patience would decide this case,” says another officer.
“Investigations involving habitual offenders do not end quickly. Sometimes you wait for days for one small opening.”
That opening finally came days later, when the accused appeared at the newly rented house.
But the operation soon turned dramatic. The house was located close to a forest area. As officers moved in, the accused allegedly attacked the police team and fled into the woods.
“For nearly eight hours, we combed through the forest. The terrain was difficult, visibility poor and the possibility of escape remained high,” says an officer.
Yet the team continued the search. “It was not an easy operation,” the officer adds. “If we had stopped after he entered the forest, we might not have caught him again anytime soon. Once such criminals become alert, they just vanish.”
The persistence paid off. Officers managed to arrest the accused, who is now in remand.
Within police circles, the case is now being highlighted as a lesson in investigation — how instinct, patience and attention to the smallest details can sometimes succeed where routine policing fails.
