Four held for Chilavanoor gold theft

Kochi: The Ernakulam South Police on Friday arrested four persons for allegedly looting over three sovereigns of gold and silver ornaments worth nearly Rs 55 lakh after breaking into a house at Chilavannor which was locked for renovation in January last. The accused were identified as Joyal Joseph (38), a native of Chilavanoor, Anu Varghese (33), a resident of Koothattukulam, Sajimon O K (42) of Pandapallikara and Bunash Kahan (24), hailing from Bharanikavu village in Alappuza.

According to cops, the incident took place on the night of January 21. “The ancestral house of businessman Vijayakumar was locked and under renovation. He and his family were living with his ailing sister at a house in TD Road. The robbers broke open the front door and decamped with the ornaments,” police said. The gold was given to his sister as alimony by her husband three years back following their divorce. The theft, the biggest in recent times, was discovered when Vijaykumar’s mother and brother went to the locked house the next day and found it ransacked.

The gold kept in the almirah on the second floor was found missing. According to the cops, the robbers were held after a tip-off. A probe led to the knowledge that the looted ornaments were sold off to private financial institutions and jewellery shops in Ernakulam, Koottattukulam, Kayamkulam, Karunagapally and Thiruvananthapuram. “The recovery proceedings of the stolen materials are on. The main accused Joyal is facing various theft charges at different police stations in the city while Bunash is also an accused in similar cases in various police stations in Alappuzha district,” they said.