The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Student held for theft at liquor retail shop

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Student held for theft at liquor retail shop

Staff Reporter

Rs.4.92 lakh was stolen from the shop at Kesavadasapuram

Accused hails from Marad in Kozhikode
Stolen amount recovered from his lodge room

Thiruvananthapuram: The police have arrested a 22-year-old hotel management student in connection with the theft of Rs.4.92 lakh from a government-owned liquor retail shop at Kesavadasapuram on Monday.

Circle Inspector M. Radhakrishnan Nair identified the suspect as Ginu Shashi Kumar, a resident of Marad in Kozhikode district. The police arrested him on Tuesday morning when he arrived to attend classes at the hotel management institution near Plamoodu. The police said they recovered the stolen amount from his lodge room at Thampanoor.

Mr. Nair said Ginu was the former roommate of the outlet’s sales supervisor Mohan Lal, 45. Ginu had shifted to another lodge early this month. But both remained good friends.

At 5 a.m. on Monday, Mr. Mohan Lal received a call from one Arun, who introduced himself as Ginu’s friend. Arun told Mr. Mohan Lal that he was due to arrive at Kesavadasapuram at 5.30 a.m. and he needed a place to stay. Mr. Mohan Lal promptly went to a bus stop near Pattom to pick up Arun. But the caller never arrived.

Duplicate key

The Circle Inspector said the caller was actually Ginu. Mr. Nair said Ginu entered Mr. Mohan Lal’s room (during his brief absence) using a duplicate key. (Ginu had kept a duplicate key of the room for himself despite shifting residence.) The official said Ginu knew that the sales officer kept the shop’s key under his pillow along with that of the cash locker. Ginu had earlier visited the outlet to help Mohan Lal solve a software hitch in the liquor shop’s computerised billing system. He knew that the staff remitted the weekend collections only on Monday.

He said there was Rs.6 lakh inside the locker when Ginu opened the shop’s shutters at 6 a.m. In the darkness, he did not notice one currency bundle which was lying at the far end of the locker. Ginu reportedly told a curious local trader that he had come to repair the computer. The police identified Ginu on the basis of the description given by the trader.

The Circle Inspector said Ginu was accused in two vehicle theft cases in Marad. His father was a taxi driver. He had one sister and a brother.

Mr. Nair said Ginu committed the crime for funding his expensive lifestyle. The suspect was in the habit of throwing lavish parties for his friends. Ginu will be produced before the court on the charges of trespass and burglary on Wednesday.

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