The police on Saturday nabbed a 22-year-old man hailing from Edappal who allegedly robbed a fuel station at Kottuli here after attacking the security guard. M. Sadique, a former employee of the fuel station, allegedly committed the crime on Wednesday midnight to pay off his EMI dues.
The police zeroed in on Sadique after checking the history of all current and previous employees of the unit. Sadique was under the scanner after his mobile phone was found switched off during the inquiry. Also, there were no major reasons for the police to suspect any other employees based on call records.
The police said the youth stayed in a private hostel in the city to closely monitor the business activities at the station and prepare for the operation. He was also ready to overpower the security guard who used to keep the collection from the late-night shift, they added.
Though the suspect’s face was not clear in the CCTV visuals, he was identified on the basis of his dressing style, which was known to some staffers at the station. “He had also uttered a few Hindi words pretending to be a migrant worker to mislead the security guard during the robbery,” the police said.
The youth had managed to grab ₹50,000 from the guard who was overpowered after a five-minute-long scuffle. Of this, ₹20,000 was recovered from him. He was also taken to the fuel station on Saturday as part of gathering further evidence.
According to police sources, Sadique resorted to the heist-film-model theft to pay the EMI of a costly motorbike and mobile phone he had purchased on loan. He was not involved in any other similar crimes earlier in Malappuram or Kozhikode districts, the police said.
