The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Alleged conman held

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Alleged conman held

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 19 . The City Police today arrested a 42-year-old man accused of stealing cash and other valuables from train passengers after lacing their drinks with sedatives.

According to police, Sabukumar Bose was a confidence trickster who used to take train passengers into confidence by posing as a professor. He would reportedly lace their tea or soft drinks and decamp with their belongings.

A polyglot who had worked as librarian at the S.N. College, Changanassery, Bose has also been charged with a job racket by extracting money from youngsters after promising employment.

Police said he had admitted to his role in several such cases. He had reportedly taken Rs. 60,000 from a girl in Ernakulam promising admission to a nursing college.

In another incident, he had received Rs. 18,000 from a youngster in Varappuzha for admission to the Medical Trust, Ernakulam. Bose has also been charged with stealing a bag from a woman on board a train at Ernakulam.

He had earlier undergone two years imprisonment and was involved in many cases of theft and fraud.

A police patrol team led by the Fort ASI, Ramachandran, took Bose into custody on Sunday night after he was spotted moving around suspiciously on the Power House road.

The police recovered a gold chain weighing two sovereigns and Rs. 21,000 in cash from his possession.

The Fort Police said they would probe his involvement in several cases across the border.

Man arrested

The City Police today arrested a 42-year-old man in connection with the snatching of a gold chain from a trader at Chalai. A police team led by the Fort ASI, K. Ramachandran Nair, nabbed the accused from the Valayal Chetty Street in Chalai while he was trying to sell the stolen chain.

Police said Mohanan Nair had snatched the chain from the sleeping trader who was asleep in a shop in the market. The incident happened about a month back.

Police said they were investigating the role of the accused in similar chain-snatching incidents. Mohanan Nair was produced in Court and remanded to custody.

Five held

As many as five men wanted in several criminal cases were arrested in combing operations by the City Police today. The joint operation led by the City Police Commissioner, Balram Kumar Upadhyaya, which began on Sunday, continued throughout the city today.

As many as 86 motorists were booked for negligent driving and three for drunken driving. Police registered cases against 60 people who caused public nuisance.

The team also took action against 26 people who were found in suspicious circumstances.

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