Daredevil cops from Thiruvanathapuram battle immense odds, nab fraudster from Karnataka

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three cops from Kerala faced multiple challenges in their quest to nab a cyber criminal from Karnataka. In the end though, the men, fatigued but steadfast, got the last laugh as they brought the criminal back to the state and produced him in court. SI Sudeesh S L and civil police officers Mahesh and Sajad from the Thumba police station faced the ordeal on September 20 in Kalaburagi, where they had gone to arrest Prakash Eerappa, who is accused of swindling Rs 10 lakh from a resident of Thiruvananthapurams Kulathoor in a trading scam. The cops had been working on the case for a year, and the team reached Kalaburagi on September 15. After initial hiccups, the cops took Prakash into custody. And the troubles began. The officers were soon surrounded by an irate mob, prompting them to call the police control room. The control room vehicle took them to the local station where the inspector asked them to release Prakash saying his men were everywhere. He even made offers on behalf of Prakashs men. When the Kerala trio refused, the inspector pulled all but two cops out of the station. Prakashs arrest was recorded by 1 pm, but the cops could not leave as the local officials did not tell them where the government hospital and the court were and failed to arrange vehicles. Finally, the cops reached the hospital in an autorickshaw for Prakashs medical examination. Their troubles did not end there. Though they had informed court officials about their predicament and asked them to inform the magistrate, they were shocked when they reached the court and learnt that she had left. The court staff did not tell the magistrate about us. They were not even ready to share her contact details. I had to seek the help of another magistrate. He offered to help us connect with the magistrate concerned, said Sudeesh. With the mob still outside, the magistrates help was sought to ensure the cops a safe passage to the other magistrates residence. There, the magistrate, though initially hostile, was convinced by the cops to help. She said her official seal was in the court and she would ask the staff to get it. However, the staff had switched off their phones, Sudeesh said. The cops had to travel to the court again to get the seal on the magistrates order. We reached by 9.30pm. The court staff did not cooperate initially, but we somehow convinced them. As for the mob, we strictly warned them that they would have to face legal hassles if they harassed us further, he said. Finally, the trio managed to get the order and brought Prakash to Kerala on a train on Sunday morning. He was produced before a court, which sent him judicial custody.