The Kozhikode City Special Action Group and the Nallalam police arrested Sabu, 51, alias ‘Spider Sabu’ in Kozhikode on Wednesday.
The team had cast a net for the criminal following a series of burglary cases in the district and had tracked him to Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka where he was living for a while in a pseudonym. They traced him to Bengaluru and followed him back to Kerala before arresting him in Kozhikode.
The District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) Rajpal Meena had directed the Special Action group led by Deputy Commissioner K.E. Baiju to track former criminals who could have been responsible for some of the recent crimes. The group zeroed in on Sabu based on his modus operandi and evidence collected from a burglary site in Nallalam in June. Once arrested, he confessed to several burglaries he had committed inside and outside the State over the last few years.
Sabu was sentenced to life imprisonment over the murder of Sreedhara Kurup during a burglary in Kottooli, Kozhikode in 2001. He was released as part of the relaxation offered to prisoners during the pandemic. However, he went into hiding and shifted his base to Belthangady from Wayanad. In between, he stayed in Ernakulam and conducted burglaries in Aluva, Perumbavoor, Kodungallur, north Paravoor and Perinthalmanna.
Sabu often targeted large uninhabited bungalows. He carries weapons and does not hesitate to use them. He uses the money from stolen goods to fund his lavish lifestyle and gambling at the casinos in Goa, police sources said.
