KOCHI: There is no such thing as a small investigation. Each case is a cat-and-mouse game where the perseverance of investigators is tested regularly. In a recent case, wherein a Tamil Nadu native cheated a woman lottery vendor on MG Road, Kochi, officers from Ernakulam Central police station had to wait over four months to nab the culprit.
For the lottery vendor, a Ponnekkara native, each ticket sold is precious. It helps her put food on the table. Unfortunately, on May 11 this year, she could not sell many tickets. At that time, a person came offering to help her sell all her unsold tickets. He was well-dressed, and the woman presumed that he worked at a nearby office.
“He took all the lottery bundles, worth Rs 10,860, and entered a nearby building. The woman waited outside for hours, but the man did not return,” says Anish Joy, SHO, Ernakulam Central Police Station.
“On enquiring about the man inside the building, she learnt that no such person worked there.”
The woman lodged a complaint. Soon, a police team was dispatched to the locality where the cheating took place. “First, we checked the CCTV footage from the area. We got visuals of the accused person. Now, the major challenge was identifying him,” says Anish.
“We circulated the visuals in various WhatsApp groups. It was part of our information collection drive. We also checked with police records to find whether it was any history-sheeter. But no more information was available.” But, then came the turning point. The person was identified by someone in one of the WhatsApp groups. He was identified as Gopal Raj of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu.
“After checking this name in the crime and criminal tracking systems, we received information that he was involved in a cheating case in Tamil Nadu,” says Anish. “We also got his address. A team was dispatched to his native place. However, he was not there and nor had anyone in the locality seen him for the past several months. We learnt that he only visits home once in a while.”
Before returning to Kochi, the police team decided to develop informers in the accused’s native place to tip them off when Gopal turns up. Officers also kept tracking his mobile phone number. For months, there was no response from the informer. At one point in time, the police thought that their attempts had hit a dead end. “But the wait proved fruitful,” says another officer.
“Last week, we received word that Gopal had returned to his native place. We also asked his mobile tower location to be tracked before sending our policemen again to Tamil Nadu. We reached the place, confirmed his presence, and took him into custody.”
Gopal was indeed unfortunate as none of the tickets he stole hit the jackpot. He confessed to the police that he ran off with the tickets in the hope that at least one ticket would change his fortune. Officers are now checking whether he was involved in similar theft activities, which may not have been reported to the police.