Kerala man stole SUVs from Karnataka for 25 years

BANGALORE: Thomas alias Taadi Thomas of Kerala breezed into Karnataka each time he wanted to steal an SUV. Over 25 years, he allegedly stole scores of four-wheelers from Bangalore, Mysore and other parts of Karnataka, evading the state police dragnet all along.

Taadi, who admits he's stolen 50 SUVs in all, most of them from Karnataka, cannot even recall where he had struck. Taadi allegedly sold most of the vehicles to finance the course of his son, a student of Calicut Medical College.

A native of Eranhipalam in Kozhikode, Taadi's fetish for SUVs from Karnataka came to light after Vatakara police in Kerala caught him in November and recovered 20 Boleros and Scorpios, 16 of them from Karnataka. Incidentally, Taadi specialized in lifting only Mahindra SUVs.

"Taadi was sent to Bangalore under a transfer warrant from Judicial Magistrate First Class of Vatakara, Kozhikode district, in connection with a Mahindra Scorpio (KA 04 MB 3306) he lifted from Vyalikaval," Kozhikode rural police chief (SP) TK Rajmohan told TOI over telephone.

He said he had sought help from Karnataka police to identify the vehicles but was yet to receive any response. Sources in the Bangalore police admitted that response to inquiries from police of other states is poor. "It involves many legal procedures. In fact, the Vyalikaval case came to light only because Taadi could recall the incident," they added.

Of the 16 vehicles recovered from Taadi, eight were from Bangalore city, two from Hunsur, five from Mysore and one from Mangalore. Of these, three vehicles from Peenya and one each from Kalasipalyam and Mangalore are yet to be claimed by the police and owners.

Taadi's four associates, too, are behind bars. They include a computer engineering student, Pranav, who helped the gang fabricate vehicle documents, Jomon alias Josy from Kundara in Kollam, Rajendran alias Gas Rajendran from Kottakarakkara and A Jayarajan from Chombala near Vatakara. But Kerala police describe the involvement of Taadi's associates as marginal.

The modus operandi involved removing the rear windshield to gain access into the vehicle and using duplicate keys.