Kerala sets up team to probe theft of 300 gold units, ₹1 crore cash

The Kannur rural police on Monday formed a special team to investigate the theft of ₹1 crore and 300 sovereigns of gold from a home in Valapattanam

The Kannur rural police on Monday formed a special team to investigate the theft of ₹1 crore and 300 sovereigns of gold from a home in Valapattanam, officials said.

The theft was reported between November 20 and 21 at the home of KP Ashraf, a wholesale rice trader, near the Valapattanam railway station in Kannur district while the family was away for several days to attend a private function (File photo)

The theft was reported between November 20 and 21 at the home of KP Ashraf, a wholesale rice trader, near the Valapattanam railway station in Kannur district while the family was away for several days to attend a private function.

An officer at the Valapattanam police station said: “The theft was reported to have occurred between 8 pm on November 20 and 4 am on November 21. The two robbers sliced open the grill on the back side of the house to enter the premises and steal the money and jewellery from the locker inside one of the bedrooms.”

“Ashraf and his family returned home on November 24 to find the money and gold missing. The complaint was registered today (Monday),” the officer said.

Jabir, a relative of Ashraf, told reporters that the key to the locker containing the money and jewellery was kept in another locked cupboard in a different room. “The locked cupboard was forced open and the key taken to unlock the locker containing the cash. The jewellery belonged to Ashraf’s wife, his daughter and his daughter-in-law,” he said.

An inspector, who is part of the probe team, told HT that the CCTV visuals from inside the compound showing the masked faces of the two robbers have been retrieved.

“We are examining the visuals. Dog squads and fingerprint teams visited the house today. We are looking at other CCTV visuals around the area. We haven’t got any strong leads yet,” he added.