Notorious inter-state criminal held in Delhi

A notorious criminal, who has over 100 cases registered against him in the country for extortion and murder, has been arrested in Delhi and brought to Kerala where he was involved in six incidents of chain-snatching which led to his undoing, police said on Monday.

After an extensive search across the states, Kerala police learnt that the criminal Sathyadev (40) was in Delhi and arrested him in a car service centre there on October 5.

"We came to know he was in Delhi and given his car for service. We reached the service centre and with the help of the manager, we managed to bring him there and arrest him," police said.

"Sathyadev had a pistol but we overpowered and arrested him," Kollam rural superintendent of police Hari Shankar told PTI.

Kerala police got the details of nearly 78 cases registered against Sathyadev in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi alone.

It was also learnt there were more than 100 cases registered against his name across the country.

"Sathyadev is a notorious criminal and his face is quite known to the police force in North India. We suspect this to be the reason for him and his accomplices to come down South and commit the crimes," the SP said.

It was on September 28, a series of chain-snatching took place at gun-point in Kollam city. Six such incidents took place within four hours at various places in the city.

Police began investigations against two youth who wore helmets and snatched chains by using a stolen motorcycle.

Later it was learnt that Sathyadev would follow the duo, who was his accomplices, in a car.

After committing the crime, the culprits would drive back to North India.

Sathyadev is a resident of Delhi and has properties in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, police said.