Kochi: In a daring operation, the Kerala Police apprehended a gang involved in the theft of gold worth ₹20 lakh from an export firm in Thrikkakara. The accused, identified as Prashant Sarkar, Rafiqul Munsi, and Rahul Pandit, are natives of West Bengal.

The theft was carried out in January by Prashant Sarkar and Rafiqul Munsi, who were employees at the firm. After the crime, both fled Kerala.

Police, with the help of the cyber cell, traced prime accused Prashant Sarkar to a forest region in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Acting on directions from the Kochi City Police Commissioner, a team led by Thrikkakara SI Anas traveled to the islands. They covered nearly 300 km through dense forest terrain inhabited by wild animals from Diglipur and captured Prashant from a place called Madhupur.

The second accused, Rafiqul Munsi, had been hiding in disguise in Surat, Gujarat, living without using a phone to evade police. The third accused, Rahul Pandit, was nabbed during a midnight operation from among a criminal gang in Kolkata.

Police said a dispute had arisen between Prashant and Rafiqul over dividing the stolen gold. Prashant claimed that 92 grams were stolen by him alone and should be his share. Following this, Rafiqul, along with his associate Rahul, attempted to snatch the gold from Prashant. During the scuffle, Prashant fled, abandoning the bag.

Out of the 141 grams of stolen gold, police recovered around 76 grams. They also seized ₹2 lakh set aside for house construction from the proceeds of the gold sale, along with two mobile phones.

Police stated that one more person remains to be arrested in connection with the case.