Accused of the dacoity case of Padmanabha Kotiian’s house being brought to the Police Commissioner’s office in Mangaluru on Friday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
The Mangaluru City Police cracked the recent dacoity case that happened at the house of a PWD contractor by arresting 10 persons, including a local gram panchayat member who worked as a driver under the contractor.
Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal gave names of the accused as Balakrishna Shetty, 48, of Paivalike village in Kasaragod district of Kerala; Raymond D’Souza, 47, of Peruvai village in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada, Ramesh, 42, Neermarga village of Mangaluru taluk of Dakshina Kannada, Gram Panchayat member Vasanth Kumar, 42, also of Neermarga of Mangaluru Taluk of Dakshina Kannada, John Bosco alias Biju of Thiruvananthapuram, Shijo Devasi, 38, of Kodagara village of Thrissur District; Sathish Babu, 44, of Mukundapuram Taluk in Thrissur District; Shakir Hussain alias Zakir, 56, of Urkancherry village in Thrissur District; Sajeesh M.M. alias Mani, 32, of Wadakancherry in Thalappilli Taluk of Thrissur District and Vinoj P.K. Krishnankutty of Kaduppassery in Thrissur District of Kerala.
On June 21 evening, around 10 persons entered the house of Padmanabha Kotian in Ulaibettu on the outskirts of the city and attacked him with a sharp weapon. They threatened Kotian’s family members and made away with ₹1.5 lakh cash, gold ornaments and other articles, worth ₹9 lakh.
Mr. Agrawal said three separate police teams – one headed by Mangaluru Rural Police Inspector and two other teams headed by Assistant Commissioners of Police Geeta Kulkarni and Dhanya Nayak respectively – were formed to crack the case. Examination of CCTV footage and inquiries at the border checkposts and toll gates revealed that the accused have moved in a vehicle to Kerala from Talapady.
The inquiry of people, including those who have worked under Kotian, revealed that Vasant Kumar, the driver of the lorry Kotian, conversation with another accused Ramesh about Mr. Kotian possessing good wealth in the house. The two further discussed with Raymond D’Souza and Balakrishna Shetty, who involved John Bosco, Shijo and others from Kerala in the conspiracy to rob Kotain’s house.
Vasant Kumar, Mr. Agrawal revealed, prepared the sketch of Kotain’s house and provided specific details about Kotain for the team from Kerala to carry out the act. The team from Kerala was roped in eight months ago by giving them an impression that they will get a booty of ₹ 300 crore from Kotian’s house.
The accused attempted to rob Kotian’s house on June 18. Three days later, the accused took away ₹9 lakh worth articles from Kotain’s house.
All the 10 accused were produced before the jurisdictional magistrate, who remanded them to judicial custody. Of the arrested persons, Sathish Babu is an accused in a murder case. Shakir Hussain is an accused in a case of hurt, while Vasanth Kumar is an accused in a kidnapping case. Biju is accused of an offence under the Excise Act.
The police are searching for four more persons allegedly involved in the offence. The police have initiated the process of recovering the stolen property.
Mr. Agrawal said an appreciation certificate and cash reward will be given to all members of the team, who have worked inv cracking a clueless case.
