PALA: A youth broke into a shop in the town bus stand. When the police caught him the next day, he told them that he went in to eat an apple, as he was hungry. The police released him out of mercy. However, on his way out of the station, he stole a handcuff and left. The police soon found the thief and their handcuff amid their investigation in a scooter theft case. The accused has been identified as Veda Nikson (46) a native of Marthandam in Kanyakumari, who was residing in Payappar in Pala. He was apprehended for a scooter theft, on Saturday. The stolen handcuff was found in a sack among some construction work goods, while the police was searching his house. The accused was caught by Pala CI K P Tomson and sub inspectors M D Abhilash and Prakash.

Veda Nikson, who had been creating an atmosphere of terror in Payappar, was referred as a ‘public nuisance’ by the locals. He had broken into three shops including a grocery store at the town bus stand, four days ago. He also destroyed the CCTV cameras in the grocery store.

A scooter owned by Sanal Kumar of Vallichira Kallu, which was parked in front of a Federal bank ATM in Pala Kattakayam road, was stolen at around 8:15 pm on February 11. While SI Prakash and team were patrolling the Thodupuzha road, a man was spotted walking through the road wearing a helmet. On being asked why he was wearing a helmet while walking, he said that his vehicle ran out of petrol. The police questioned him out of suspicion and found that he had stolen a scooter. He confessed that the scooter was kept in Payappar near to his residence. The accused who was produced before the Pala court was remanded.

Construction work in morning, theft and violence whenever opportunity strikes

Veda Nikson who does construction work in the morning, will steal anything if gets a chance, said the locals. From bananas to torch, the list goes on. Taking lottery tickets and promising to pay later was his habit. Settled in Payyapar ten years ago and he got married from there itself. Recently, he got drunk and smashed the windshields of three tipper trucks. Another incident also occurred in which he had smashed a woman’s head into a rock. After stealing the scooter, he had come to his neighbour’s house in Payappara. He got into a quarrel with the house owner. With this, the neighbour noted down the number of the scooter. Meanwhile, the news about the missing scooter, along with a picture, got circulated in the social media. On seeing the news, the neighbour along with some locals, informed the matter to the Pala police station.

Serious fault from police’s side

Even though the man was involved in numerous theft cases, the police released him stating that he was a mental patient. The owner of the grocery shop had informed the police following the incident, but the police released the accused without registering any case. This had led to further problems. When I went to lodge a complaint at the station, the police were not ready to file any case saying that nothing was lost from the shop, said Prashanth, the shop owner.