The rural police in Ernakulam have uncovered a unique theft method and arrested a suspect involved in a series of crimes across multiple states.
The Aluva police arrested Imran Khan (34), a native of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.
The case came to light on March 14, when a young man from Thrissur arrived at the TCS iON Exam Centre on a scooter for an examination. He had kept his purse and mobile phone under the scooter seat. When he returned later in the day, both items were missing.
After contacting his bank to block his card, the victim discovered that Rs65,000 had already been withdrawn from his account. He then lodged a complaint with the Aluva police.
Investigations revealed that the accused used a duplicate key to unlock the scooter and steal the valuables. He then removed the SIM card from the stolen phone, inserted it into another device, and visited an ATM. Using the SIM, he reset the ATM PIN and withdrew money. To avoid detection, the phone was not used for any calls.
Police said similar incidents had been reported in Aluva, Kollam-Kilikollur, Thrissur, as well as in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Authorities in Uttar Pradesh were also searching for the accused, who frequently changed locations to evade capture. He was reportedly in Bhopal on March 23 and Coimbatore on March 27.
The accused was finally apprehended from a lodge near Vyttila Mobility Hub on Sunday night when he returned to Kerala for another theft attempt.
During the arrest, police recovered around 10 duplicate keys for two-wheelers, three mobile phones, and several stolen purses.
The accused has been remanded to judicial custody and will be taken into further custody for detailed investigation, police said.
