“One of the most ruthless criminals we have ever come across.” When the excise officers, who were part of the team that nabbed Kottayam native George Kutty, say this unanimously, it gives an inkling of the kind of character the 39-year-old drug trafficker was.
George was unlike any other criminal the officers had encountered before. A ruthless operator, shrewd tactician, and a smart executor of sinister plots, he was capable of unleashing extreme violence at the drop of a hat.
So confident was George in his abilities — he held a black belt in karate — that he operated as a lone wolf, trafficking large quantities of high-grade hashish oil to the state, which eventually found its way to foreign shores.
Notably, until June 2019, when he was finally caught by excise officers near Kovalam while smuggling 22kg of hashish oil, George had never featured in the list of suspects.
Born into a decent family in Neendoor, he came into contact with drug rackets while studying BSc Nursing in Bengaluru. He had worked as an agent arranging nursing seats in Bengaluru for students from Kerala. Then he found drug trafficking both thrilling and lucrative.
In excise custody, George pretended to be sober-minded and cooperated with the sleuths. However, while being taken to Bengaluru for evidence collection, he revealed his true self — escaping with the help of one of his aides after attacking the escorting officers.
In typical cases of such escapes, the officers involved are suspended immediately. But this time, the government showed leniency, recognising the limitations under which the excise department operated. The team was given 30 days to capture the fugitive.
“Obviously, we were under tremendous stress,” recalls Excise Inspector G Krishna Kumar, who was part of the team. “We cultivated sources from among George’s contacts in Bengaluru and learned that he was hiding in Narsipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. However, George was lying low in a remote area, avoiding mobile phones, making digital tracking impossible.”
Meanwhile, the team tracked down George’s first wife, who had separated from him due to his abusive behaviour. They suspected he might try to visit his daughter from this marriage, but that visit never happened.
Attention then turned to George’s second wife, from Vaniyambalam near Nilambur. From Bengaluru-based sources, they received word that George might be planning to visit her soon.
The information was vague, but the excise officers decided to keep a watch on the woman.
Her house was located on the slope of a hill. “It was like a slum and there were lots of houses nearby. We had to climb our way up the steep slope. It was not easy to do that without getting noticed. The people there are aggressive. We feared if they would attack the search party,” says the inspector.
Another officer from Nilambur was assigned to win over local youths. Disguised as a man looking to buy a cow, the officer visited the area. He managed to strike a chord with them, discovering they disapproved of the woman’s marriage to George, as the couple belonged to different communities.
“The officer exploited the situation to our advantage. He also revealed that George was a drug peddler on the run. The youths got riled up and promised to help,” says one of the team members.
The officers, however, were hesitant to raid the place, especially a woman’s house, without confirmation. “Then, a youth came forward with a critical piece of information — he had seen the woman buying chicken earlier in the day, suggesting she had a guest. Another youth confirmed sighting a man at the house,” says an officer.
Under cover of darkness, the excise men, assisted by the local youths, stealthily scaled the steep slope. Doors of the house were shut. The youths peered through the window and saw a man closely pressed against the woman. They assumed it to be an intimate moment.
In reality, George was holding the woman at gunpoint, plotting his escape. He had already been alerted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
By then, the officers barged in, with Inspector Manoj, armed with a pistol, providing cover. At that moment, George opened fire on the officers. Manoj got hit in the leg, and the rest of the team ran for cover.
Amid the chaos, George tried to flee while still firing shots. As he ran out, a local resident named Babu threw a heavy wooden log at him, knocking him to the ground.
When George got up, Babu struck him again with another log, this time hitting him on the head and causing a second fall. George was finally captured.
Incidentally, Babu’s intervention was partly accidental. His hearing was impaired, and he hadn’t heard the gunshots. Seeing people, including excise officers, running in panic, he was flummoxed. Caught in the frenzy, he instinctively hurled the logs, playing a key role in George’s recapture on the 26th day after his escape from custody.