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Kerala police arrested the neighbour of a trader in connection with the theft of over Rs 1 crore and 267 sovereigns of gold from the latter's residence in Kannur district about two weeks ago.
The accused, Lijeesh (45), was taken into custody on Saturday by an investigation team formed to probe the case, the police said. His arrest was recorded on Monday after he confessed to his crime on Sunday evening during interrogation.
Lijeesh, a Gulf returnee, carried out the theft by breaking the window of the house in Valapattanam.
The stolen cash amounting to Rs 1.21 crore and 267 sovereigns of gold were recovered from beneath a cot at the house of Lijeesh, a welder, Kannur city police commissioner, Ajit Kumar, told a press conference.
Police said that inside his own house, beneath the bed, Lijeesh had created a secret compartment, where he stored the stolen gold and money.
The breakthrough in the investigation came through CCTV footage and fingerprint evidence, the police said.
During investigation, the fingerprints were matched with similar evidence collected from other cases and were found to match an unresolved theft that occurred in Keecheri in the district a year ago.
The theft in Valapattanam residence occurred on the November 20. Lijeesh carried out the operation in just 40 minutes, police said.
CCTV footage showed the accused, a bald-headed man, returning to the same house the day after the theft, raising suspicions of the involvement of someone familiar with the household, the police said.
He made efforts to cut the CCTV camera. When one CCTV camera was repositioned to avoid capturing his image, it instead provided a clear view of a room inside the house, the police said, adding that this footage was key in identifying and capturing the accused.
During the theft, Lijeesh left behind a tool he had used. He returned to the house on the November 21 to recover it but was unsuccessful, as he confessed about it during questioning. The tool was later discovered during the police investigation.
The theft occurred while Ashraf, a rice trader, and his family from Valapattanam were attending a wedding in Madurai in Tamil Nadu on November 19.
They discovered the robbery upon returning home on November 24.
A special team was constituted by the police to investigate the case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)