Kochi: A 37-year-old man arrested in connection with the burglary at the residence of Malayalam movie director Joshiy, is the husband of a district panchayat president in Bihar, Kerala Police said on Monday.
The accused has 19 theft cases against him across six states and had come out of jail last month. Gold and diamond items worth Rs 1.2 crore were recovered from him, police added.
Accused, Mohammed Irfan was arrested from Udupi district with Karnataka Police's help and brought to Kochi. He will now be produced before the court, a police official said.
Kochi city police commissioner Syamsundar said the accused was apprehended on the basis of CCTV footage and by tracking the route of a Honda Accord car, which he had used for escaping from the crime scene.
"While examining the CCTV footage during the investigations, we saw a suspicious Honda Accord car and traced its route. We found the car crossed Kasaragod and enter Karnataka. After which, we informed the Karnataka Police about the case. The officials of the Karnataka Police helped us in tracing the accused and the latter was arrested," Syamsundar said.
He also said that the car he used carried a sticker of the Sitamarhi district panchayat president. It was revealed that his wife is Sitamarhi district panchayat president, he added.
Two days back, the accused had entered Joshiy's house through the kitchen window. The director and his family members were at the house when the incident occurred. However, they came to know about the burglary early next morning and informed police.
Explaining the accused's modus operandi, police said Irfan had reached Kochi on April 20 and searched online for posh localities across the city. On the night of burglary, Irfan tried to enter three other houses in the locality but failed. Finally, he managed to get into Joshiy's residence, Syamsundar said.
Police said Irfan is a suspect in a similar theft case in Thiruvananthapuram.
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