Serial housebreaker arrested at Mangaluru rly station

Mangaluru: Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested a notorious house-breaking accused at Mangaluru Central Railway Station on Thursday and recovered stolen gold ornaments worth over Rs 13 lakh during a special surveillance operation.The accused, Ashif PH, 25, a resident of Hosdurg in Kasaragod district, Kerala, was intercepted while moving suspiciously on platforms 2 and 3 of the station.A search of his shoulder bag led to the recovery of a pouch containing gold ornaments suspected to be stolen property. During interrogation, Ashif reportedly confessed that the jewellery had been stolen from a house in Thrissur.Verification confirmed that the ornaments were linked to a house-breaking and theft case registered at Pavaratti police station.The recovered valuables included four bangles, three necklaces, four rings, a chain, a bracelet and studs, weighing 93.5 grams and collectively valued at around Rs 13 lakh.The operation was carried out by RPF personnel Manoj Kumar Yadav, Saju K, K Devarajan, K Rajan, Radhakrishnan and C Abbas, who were conducting confidential surveillance against Theft of Passenger Belongings (ToPB) offenders at the station and surrounding areas.RPF investigations revealed that Ashif is a proclaimed offender involved in multiple theft and house-breaking cases registered across police stations from Ernakulam to Kasaragod, with several non-bailable warrants pending against him. He is involved in at least 12 cases.Following coordination with the Pavaratti police, a team from Thrissur arrived in Mangaluru in the early hours of Friday, and the accused, along with the recovered gold ornaments, was formally handed over for further legal proceedings.