Man arrested for rubber sheet theft after 37 yrs in Kerala

Thirty seven years after a man stole a rubber sheet from Vechoochira village in this southern Kerala district and then went into hiding in a nearby forest area, he was arrested by the police.

In a statement issued on Saturday by the office of the District Police Chief, police said the accused – Podiyan — had gone into hiding right after the incident in 1985 and as he had no mobile phone or any other communication facilities, neither his relatives nor the villagers knew where he was.

After the theft he was hiding in the Pothupara forest here.

He was arrested by a team from Vechoochira police station acting on a tip off, the statement said.