KOCHI : Following a tip-off by the Kerala Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), police raided a house and recovered two pistols, two airguns and 20 rounds of bullets at Manjaly near Aluva on Monday. Police arrested Riyas of Manjaly for keeping arms and ammunition illegally.
Police also recovered over Rs 9 lakh and two swords from the house.
“The information was given by ATS that firearms were stocked at a house in Manjaly. Soon our team raided the house and recovered two pistols, two airguns, 20 rounds of bullets and five pellets of airguns. The pistols were not licensed. Riyas is being interrogated and we are conducting a probe,” Ernakulam rural police chief Vaibhav Saxena said.
Aluva DySP A Prasad said that Riyas was into anti-social activities. His association with criminal gangs is being verified.
“He was an accused in a murder case. We are checking his criminal antecedents. We are also questioning him regarding the source of firearms and whether he was part of any criminal gang. Also source of money has to be checked. Riyas was present at his house when we carried out the raid,” Prasad said.
Aluva West police will register a case under the Arms Act against Riyas. He will be produced before the court on Tuesday. Later, police will approach the court seeking his custody. In recent years, multiple cases of firearms seizure from criminal gangs were reported from Ernakulam district. It was found that, in most of the cases, pistols were bought from Bihar.
Many places raided in Kerala and Tamil Nadu
Kerala Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Monday carried out raids at multiple locations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu to trace the associates of dreaded gangster Perumbavoor Anas. The drive was conducted in coordination with the Tamil Nadu police.
It was as part of this operation that police raided the house of Manjaly native Riyas and recovered fire arms. Apart from Riyas’ house, the house of Althaf at Thannikal near Elamakkara was also raided. The police team recovered a pouch used for keeping pistol, handcuff and pellets of air gun from Althaf’s residence.
The residence of another close aide of Anas, Nizar of Manjeri, was also raided by the team. A resort in Rajakkad where Nizar worked was raided but he managed to flee from the place.
Houses at Guruvayur and Wayanad were also raided. During the search, the police team got information that firearms were buried behind a resort in Wayanad.
Though the police searched the entire resort compound, no arms or ammunition could be found. The police team also raided the house of Shaji Pappan, another close associate of Anas, in Perumbavoor.
The ATS also raided residences and resorts at Annamalai and Mettupalayam. Perumbavoor Anas, who is involved in multiple criminal cases, escaped from India using a fake passport.