Mangaluru: Bringing to an end a five-year manhunt, the Puttur Town Police have arrested a robbery accused from Kerala’s Thrissur district who had been absconding since 2021 despite repeated court summons and as many as 41 non-bailable arrest warrants. The accused was produced before the jurisdictional court after his arrest.
The arrested accused has been identified as Nelson CV (38), a native of Thrissur district in Kerala. He is one of the accused in a sensational armed robbery reported in the Puttur Town Police Station limits in December 2017.
According to police, the robbery took place on December 22, 2017, when three unidentified men allegedly barged into a house in Puttur, threatened the occupants at gunpoint and with knives, and escaped with gold ornaments worth Rs 2.88 lakh and Rs 60,000 in cash. Following the incident, the Puttur Town Police registered a case and launched an investigation.
Nelson was later arrested in the case and subsequently secured conditional bail from the court. However, police said he stopped appearing before the trial court from August 27, 2021, violating the conditions of his bail and remaining absconding for nearly five years.
During this period, the court repeatedly directed him to appear for trial. As he continued to evade the judicial process, the court issued 41 non-bailable arrest warrants against him. Despite several attempts by investigators to trace him, the accused allegedly kept changing locations to avoid arrest.
After gathering specific intelligence about his whereabouts, a special team from Puttur Town Police, comprising Head Constable Santosh A. and Police Constables Vinayaka and Shivaraj, travelled to Miyur in Kerala’s Thrissur district on July 8** and successfully apprehended the accused. He was subsequently brought to Karnataka and produced before the competent court.
Police officials said the arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the long-pending robbery case, which had remained stalled due to the accused’s prolonged absence from court proceedings.
In addition to the original robbery case, Nelson now faces fresh legal action for violating the conditions of his bail. Police have registered another case against him at Puttur Town Police Station under Crime No. 80/2026 for failing to comply with court directions and remaining absconding. The new case has been booked under Section 269 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, officials said.
Investigators said the accused’s repeated failure to appear before the court not only delayed the trial but also amounted to disobedience of judicial orders. The fresh case has been registered to address the violation of bail conditions independently of the robbery case.
Police officials commended the investigating team for tracking down the accused after years of evasion. The arrest is expected to help expedite the pending trial in the 2017 robbery case.
Further investigation into the robbery case is ongoing, and police are examining whether the accused was involved in any other criminal activities during the period he remained at large.
