P.R. Ranish, Corporation councillor for Thevara division, had just dropped his wife off at the Ernakulam Siva Temple in the heart of Kochi city, when he received a phone call on April 20, around 5.45 a.m. At the other end was film producer Anto Joseph. There had been a hit at the house of Mollywood filmmaker Joshiy who made several blockbusters like Twenty20 and New Delhi, which, incidentally elevated Mammootty into a superstar. Valuables of a substantial worth had been stolen, he was told. Ranish lived near Joshiy’s neighbourhood, in Panampilly Nagar, another tony neighbourhood.
Joshiy had called Joseph, who was in turn reaching out to Ranish as a people’s representative, to alert him about the burglary. “For some reason, they couldn’t reach a police officer. I immediately alerted Ernakulam Central Subdivision Assistant Commissioner P. Rajkumar. Then I rushed to Joshiy’s house,” said Ranish. By then, a team from the Ernakulam Town South police station led by the inspector had reached the spot and was conducting the primary investigation. Feeling that a little more urgency was needed, Ranish, whose brother is in the police force, directly rang up District Police Chief (Kochi City) S. Syamsundar.
The magnitude of the burglary dawned on the police when it emerged that valuables worth about ₹1.20 crore had gone missing from a safe in a bedroom on the first floor of the house the Joshiy family has been living in for the past 35 years. As per the First Information Report registered by the police, among the stolen items were two diamond-studded necklace sets, 10 diamond-studded rings, five diamond earrings, 10 gold chains, 10 gold bangles, and 10 premium watches.
