A poet at heart, though a thief

TRIPUNITHURA: The Tripunithura police have arrested the person accused in the theft of rubber sheets worth over Rs 10 lakh.   The arrested, Lalu alias Jose, 52, Mannullil Veedu, Irumbanam, is suspected to have masterminded the theft series in which a huge quantity of rubber sheets was stolen. The police team, led by CI Byju Paulose and Hill Palace sub-inspector P R Santhosh, made the arrest following a tip-off from Lalu’s close associate Atta Rahim, who was arrested last month from Tripunithura.  The police said Lalu was also a poet and a novelist. He is said to have written several poems during his stint in jail. His poem ‘Branthu’, could well be considered a post-modern Malayalam poetry.  Lalu has completed a few more poems and the work of his novel ‘Orang Robo’ is nearing completion. The theme of the novel is a robot who is specially trained for looting costly items from lockers. Lalu, who was in the Viyyur Central Prison after being convicted of nearly a dozen criminal cases, was released in March 2011.  Lalu, along with Atta Rahim, was engaged in rubber sheet theft from various shops in and around Piravom and Mulanthuruthy.The duo is said to have stolen a Maruti Omni from a workshop at Muvattupuzha. They are also accused of stealing over 450 kg of rubber sheets from Muvattupuzha Rubber Marketing Co-operative Society. They also stole 200 kg of rubber sheets from a shop at Thiruvaniyoor, another 400 kg from a shop at Thirumadi. He also stole 41 kg of gold from a jewellery in Chennai after breaking open the shutters. Lalu is accused in various other theft cases and was serving life term in Aliyar murder case.The arrest was made by the police team comprising ASI Raju Noha, Suresh, Raffique, Jossy,Binu and Vinod, after chasing Lalu’s car. The police also seized a sizeable quantity of rubber sheet hidden in his Ford Icon car along with tools used to break open the shutter lock.