The Hindu : Hunt on for constable in daylight robbery case

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Hunt on for constable in daylight robbery case

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM May 20. The Cantonment Police have launched a hunt for a constable, Hussain Khan, who is the prime suspect in the daring daylight heist of Rs.1 lakh from a parked car near the Secretariat on April 10.

The Circle Inspector (Cantonment), Xavier, said the police had recovered a shirt from the house of the constable that matched the description of the attire given by the complainant, Abdul Hakim.

The police believe that the arrest of the person who assisted the suspect in the crime would clinch the case. Hussain Khan had moved the District Court for anticipatory bail, but the application was rejected today.

Mr. Xavier said that on verification it was found that Hussain Khan sported a lifestyle which was much above his known sources of income. The alleged connections of the constable with criminal elements in Thampanoor, Nemom and Chenkalchoola were also under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the police have found striking similarities between the April 10 incident and another daylight robbery of Rs 1.58 lakh from an NRI family at the same spot on February 8. The modus operandi was the same in both the cases.

A bag containing foreign currency and gold ornaments worth Rs 1.58 lakhs had been lifted from the car of Raghunandana Menon (50) near the South Gate of the Secretariat at around 11 a.m. The incident occurred when Mr. Menon and his son parked the car and walked over to a nearby shoe mart.

A person had approached Mr. Menon's wife, who was sitting in the car, and asked whether some currency notes which lay strewn on the ground had fallen from her husband's pocket.

When she got out of the car to check, another person reached inside the car and grabbed the bag which was lying on the back seat. Both the culprits then made good their escape.

The same method had been employed to rob Rs. 1 lakh from Hakim immediately after he withdrew the amount from the Treasury Branch of the SBT at around 11.45 a.m. on April 10. The police believe that Hussain Khan was involved in both the crimes.

The Circle Inspector said the description of the suspect given by Hakim matched Hussain Khan, who was already under suspicion. It was arranged for Hakim to "accidentally" run into the constable and to "recognise'' him as the person who had robbed him. Tellingly, after this incident, the constable did not report for duty.

Earlier this week, the City Police Commissioner, Rajan Singh, had placed the constable under suspension pending enquiry.

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