Kovai blast convict arrested in Kottayam car theft case

The investigation into a car theft case registered in Kottayam West police station helped the investigators detect Rafiq’s role  following the arrest of two persons on February 9.

KOTTAYAM: In a major development, Kottayam West police on Friday arrested Muhammed Rafiq alias Rafiq Bhai, a convict in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blast case, in connection with taking stolen premium cars to Tamil Nadu.

The investigation into a car theft case registered in Kottayam West police station helped the investigators detect Rafiq’s role  following the arrest of two persons on February 9. The accused, identified as Illyas, 37, a native of Vadanappally in Thrissur, and K A Nishad, 37, hailing from Aluva, used to hire luxury cars using fake identity documents and sell it off to Rafiq.

As per the statement of the arrested persons, they supplied at least 11 cars and a two-wheeler to Rafiq. Kottayam police arrived in Coimbatore and arrested Rafiq from his camp in Ukkadam. Police suspect that Rafiq has taken away more than 100 premium cars to Tamil Nadu from various parts of Kerala. “After the cars were brought to Tamil Nadu, Rafiq and his team tampered with the engine and chassis numbers and then sent the vehicles to other parts of the country,” said the police.

In the wake of intelligence reports about the revival of Al-Ummah network and plans for recruiting youths to terrorist organisations like the Islamic State, the police are also planning to extend the investigation. “We are at the preliminary stage of the investigation and at this juncture, this is only a cheating case. However, we will look into all the aspects during the course of investigation,” said Kottayam district police chief G Jaidev.

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