THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police team probing the sensational Pallippuram gold heist case has identified a Kazhakoottom native as the main suspect and efforts are on to locate the man, who has been on the run after committing the crime on April 9. Police sources said that the key suspect has several criminal cases against him and is assumed to be hiding in Karnataka.
“He is currently not present in Kerala. We had noticed that he had gone into hiding after the probe commenced. We have information that he has gone to Benguluru,” said sources.Police have got a daunting task ahead in locating the culprits as they have stopped using their mobile phones.
“Had they been using their mobile phones, tracking their location would have been easy. Since many of the culprits have criminal antecedents, they knew that the cops would be tracking their phones,” the sources added.
The police have already arrested four people in connection with the probe. The cops said the three arrested persons were directly involved in the crime, while the fourth one had helped them sell the gold.The gang comprising 10-12 people had waylaid a jewellery owner, Sampath Surve, and looted 100 sovereigns of gold.