Alappuzha , The Kerala police have arrested a member of the notorious ‘Kuruva gang’ from Tamil Nadu in connection with a series of thefts in Mannancherry, near here, last year, officials said on Sunday.
The arrested person has been identified as Kattupoochan, 56.
He was taken into custody from Ramanathapuram in Madurai district by Mannancherry police, in coordination with Tamil Nadu police, officials added.
Earlier, three other gang members, including leader Santhosh Selvam, were arrested for thefts in Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts.
According to police, the gang specialised in burglaries and is known for resorting to violence or even murder if confronted.
Kattupoochan, a native of Ramanathapuram, had evaded arrest multiple times with local assistance, despite repeated efforts by Mannancherry police following Selvam’s arrest in November last year, police said.
He was identified through video footage as an accomplice in multiple thefts, including an incident on November 12, 2024, when a house in Mannancherry was broken into at 2 AM, and a 3.5-sovereign gold chain was snatched from a woman’s neck, police added.
Another burglary linked to him took place near Komalapuram Spinners, where a house’s kitchen door was forced open, and valuables including a nose ring, ₹3,000 in cash, and gold earrings were stolen, police said.
Police records indicate that Kattupoochan has a long history of criminal activities, with cases registered against him in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, including at Mararikulam, Punnapra, Pulinkunnu in Alappuzha district, and North Paravur, Vadakkekara in Ernakulam district.
One of his most heinous crimes occurred in 2013, when a five-member gang, including Kattupoochan, broke into a house near the railway tracks in Mararikulam, here, police said.
They timed the break-in with a passing train to mask the noise, assaulted a young woman—just a month into her marriage—along with her mother using iron rods, and looted their jewelry.
Kattupoochan was arrested and sentenced to 18 years of rigorous imprisonment for this crime. However, in 2020, he was released as part of a COVID-19 amnesty programme for prisoners who had served three-fourths of their sentence, police added.
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