THRISSUR: A 30-year-old man has been arrested for breaking into a house in broad daylight and stealing over 90 sovereigns of gold jewellery. The arrested has been identified as Darul Falah Ismail, from Irikkur in Kannur. The burglary was held at 'Prashanthi'- the residence of Devi, a LIC administrative officer, at Shastriji Nagar, Thrissur Road on January 1. There was a loss of around Rs 36 lakh. The accused was arrested from Kalanjoor in Pathanamthitta following an investigation centred around his mobile phone. The police have recovered 95 sovereigns of stolen gold ornaments from his possession. Ismail had also confessed to robbing a house in Punalur last month. The police also recovered Rs 14 lakh from him.

The theft took place when Devi, a homemaker, went to attend her relative's wedding around 10:30 in the morning. He travelled by a bus to Shastriji Nagar and walked to Devi's house. After realizing that there was no one in the house, he went upstairs and broke open the back door and entered. Ismail was inside the house even when Devi returned home around 3 pm. As per the statement of the accused, he opened the back door and jumped over the wall, and ran after realizing that someone had entered the house.

The thief's escape was after destroying all the evidence. He burnt small purses containing gold. A plastic container in the kitchen was burnt. Coconut oil was spilled on the floor. The accused also used a special wiper fluid. When he realized that the owner of the house had arrived, he took all the gold and went out the same way he had entered, and asked for a lift before returning to the city.

Devi says that when she entered the house, all the things in the cupboards were scattered. Most of the jewels given to Devi by her parents were stolen. Most of this jewellery was recovered from a jeweller in Kozhikode. Some of this was in liquid form.

Unique thief

Ismail is different from the usual pattern of thieves who find empty houses and steal in daylight. If he thinks there is no one in the house, he will ring the calling bell. In case someone opens the door and asks for someone's address. If no one opens the door, he will try to break and enter the house for burglary.

How he got caught

It was on the fifth day after the robbery in Kunnamkulam that the police identified Ismail as the burglar. After that, he was arrested on the 10th day. The first thing the police did was to prepare a list of thieves who commit daytime robberies. Then the investigation was focused on the mobile tower location of the thieves who was in Thrissur on that particular day. It was later discovered that Ismail, who was released from Mavelikkara Jail in early December, had come to the district.

The cops found a similarity between the picture of Ismail and the picture obtained from the CCTVs of the area, which helped the investigation. Suspicion was strengthened by the frequent cycles of his mobile being switched on and off. After following the phone location, it was learned that he is in Pathanamthitta district. After finding the residence of Ismail's female friend here, the arrest was made. The police also said that he had a network of women to help him sell the looted jewellery.