Suspected ‘Kuruva’ gang member nabbed soon after being forcibly freed from custody

After an hours-long dramatic and intense manhunt, the Kochi City police and Alappuzha police assisted by fire and rescue services personnel recaptured a suspected member of the infamous gang of ‘Kuruva thieves’ who managed to escape police custody allegedly with the help of fellow gang members on Saturday (November 16) night.

The arrested, Santhosh Selvam, was suspected of being part of two attempted thefts at Mannancherry in Alappuzha district on the same night last month. On being informed about the presence of the suspects near the Kundannoor flyover, a team led by the Mannancherry police reached the spot and nabbed him along with another suspect, identified as Manikandan.

According to the police, he was found hiding in a marshy area alongside the flyover by digging a hole in the wet earth and covered with sheets. No sooner than he was taken to the police vehicle, a group comprising women confronted and blocked the path of the police team much to their surprise.

“We could not do much since there were no women cops in our team, and they forcibly freed the suspect who fled while still being handcuffed,” said Mannancherry police sources. The police, however, managed to secure the custody of the other accused.

This triggered a manhunt led by Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner P. Rajkumar and Alappuzha DySP M.R. Madhu Babu, reportedly involving over 100 officers. The news of a suspected ‘Kuruva’ gang member at large triggered panic in the city even as a social media alert complete with the picture of the suspect started doing the rounds.

In the meantime, the police alerted the Fire and Rescue Services department following which a scuba team was deployed. The team reached the spot around 8.45 p.m. “We deployed a rubber dinghy along the waterbody near Le Meridian hotel and started coursing through the ridges of the marshy area looking for the suspect. We spent around an hour when the beam of light from our torch fell upon the suspect who was hiding along the edge of the marshy land. In his attempt to flee, he ran straight into the hands of the police,” said Anil Raj, leading fireman of the scuba team.

Reportedly, the police also took into custody a few people accused of attacking the police facilitating the escape of the suspect.

The dramatic turn of events took place shortly after the Ernakulam Rural police constituted a special investigation team after multiple break-in attempts were reported in North Paravur and Vadakkekara police station limits and a case each was reported at the two police stations. The Kochi City and the Ernakulam Rural police had also intensified night patrol and beefed up security in public places.

Published - November 17, 2024 12:31 am IST