Bihar native accused of robbing director Joshiy's house, arrested from Karnataka

KOCHI: The accused who committed theft at the house of Malayalam film director Joshiy has been arrested from Karnataka on Sunday. Muhammad Irshad, a native of Bihar, is the culprit. The investigation was solely based on the CCTV footage obtained. It was on Saturday dawn that the accused committed a grand-scale robbery at Joshiy’s residence in Panampilly Nagar.

It was learned that the accused left Kochi in a Maharashtra registration car. Kerala police later handed over the pictures of the car to the Karnataka police which helped to easily arrest the culprit.

Gold, diamonds and watches worth more than one crore rupees were stolen. Police placed all doubts on the robbers hailing from northern India to be behind the crime. Local ruffians and recently released thieves were under investigation, which was conducted under the leadership of Ernakulam Assistant Police Commissioner P. Rajkumar.

Joshiy, his wife, daughter-in-law and children were in the house when the robbery took place. At 5:30 am, Joshiy’s wife Sindhu found the kitchen door open and felt dubious. It was later that the robbery was confirmed and a complaint was registered at the South police station by Joshiy’s son Abhilash. Fingerprint experts and the dog squad then reached the spot and collected evidence.

The police had collected all the footage from the CCTV cameras around the house. The accused’s face which was only partially covered also helped the police to easily recognize the identity.

The thief entered the house by bending the bars in the kitchen window. He then broke the lockers in two unoccupied rooms on the upper floor. Two diamond necklaces worth Rs 25 lakh, ten diamond rings, eight diamond earrings worth Rs eight lakh, ten gold necklaces, ten bangles and ten expensive watches were stolen. The accused then wriggled out of the house through the kitchen door.