Neighbour arrested for stealing Rs 1 cr, 300 gold sovereigns in Kannur

Kannur: Local police in Kannur have arrested Lijeesh (45), a neighbour of prominent rice wholesale merchant Ashraf, after he confessed to robbing Ashraf’s house of over Rs 1 crore in cash and 300 sovereigns of gold about two weeks ago in Valapattanam.

Lijeesh, a Gulf returnee and welder, was taken into custody on Saturday after a special investigation team was formed to probe the case. He confessed to the crime on Sunday evening during interrogation, and his arrest was recorded on Monday.

The police reported that Lijeesh carried out the theft by breaking a window of Ashraf’s house and completed the operation in just 40 minutes while Ashraf and his family were away attending a wedding in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, on November 19. The family discovered the robbery upon returning home on November 24.

The stolen cash and gold were recovered from a secret compartment beneath a cot in Lijeesh’s home. Police said Lijeesh had created this hidden space to store the stolen items. The investigation team identified him through CCTV footage and fingerprint evidence. The footage showed Lijeesh, described as a bald man, returning to Ashraf’s house on the day after the theft, raising suspicion. Despite attempting to disrupt the CCTV camera placement, the repositioned camera provided a clear view of a room inside the house, which proved crucial in identifying him.

Further, Lijeesh had left behind a tool used during the theft and returned on November 21 to retrieve it. He was unsuccessful, but he admitted to the act during questioning, and the tool was later found during the investigation. The fingerprints taken from the scene were matched with those collected from a previous theft in same district, which occurred a year earlier.

With IANS inputs