Kochi : Two brothers were on Sunday arrested for allegedly stealing a bag containing gold ornaments, a mobile phone and other valuables from a person who had gone swimming at Vypeen Beach, the police said.
The arrested men are Akhil Kumar, 27, and his elder brother Anil Kumar , 29, of Puthuvype. The bag reportedly contained a gold chain weighing around 2.5 sovereigns, a one-sovereign wedding ring, a mobile phone worth around Rs 80,000 and other belongings. The police examined more than 60 CCTV cameras.
The police said Akhil had previously been suspected of stealing from houses in the area and cutting electrical wiring in abandoned houses, burning it to extract copper and selling it. The police said the remaining portion of the gold chain had been wrapped in a plastic cover and buried beneath the staircase of the house where the accused lived. One of the recordings showed a man riding a bicycle with what appeared to be a bag on his back. As the accused allegedly did not use a mobile phone, the police conducted a detailed field investigation to trace him. The bag was allegedly discarded in a deserted wooded area.
The incident happened on Thursday, according to the police.
A special investigation team was formed under the supervision of central ACP Siby Tom. The team comprised CI Shyam Kumar, SI Naseem, Anoop Chacko, Suresh C M, Shaji E M, ASI Sajimon, SCPOs Vipin, Pratheesh, Unnikrishnan and Prashanth Babu, and CPOs Suresh, Renny Daniel, Ajilesh and Harish.