Surveillance cameras help police foil midnight burglary bid; thief held

Kottayam:  A burglar’s bid to rob a house in a village here was foiled after the house owner’s daughter, staying away, noticed his movement on her mobile phone linked with CCTV cameras installed at her parents’ house and alerted the police.

Police said the incident was reported from Keezhoor under Velloor police station limit in Kaduthuruthy on Tuesday night.

According to police, the woman, who is staying in Pala, was shocked when she noticed live on her CCTV-connected mobile phone a man wearing a maxi stepping into the terrace of her aged parents’ house at Keezhoor near Kaduthuruthy. She immediately telephoned her neighbour at Keezhoor, who informed the police about the incident.

When the police teams from nearby Thalayolaparambu and Velloor police stations reached the spot, the burglar allegedly jumped off from the terrace and tried to escape.

Police personnel chased him through the paddy fields and rubber plantations and caught him some one-and-a-half kilometres away from the spot.

Police said the 32-year old man, named Bobbins, was arrested and equipment used for breaking the locks of the buildings was seized from him. Bobbins also hails from Keezhoor but he had been staying in a village in Alappuzha district for the past six years, they said.