LuLu bomb hoax case: Vypeen native arrested

KOCHI: Good command over English, central Travancore Malayalam slang and good fortune led to the arrest of Manoj Xavier, a 39-year-old well-educated Vypeen native, who made repeated bomb threat calls to LuLu Mall over the last week.
Manoj was arrested from his rented flat at Kathrikadavu on Thursday around 6pm. According to the investigation team, Manoj made threat calls and demanded Rs 75 lakh from the mall management.
In 2011, he was arrested from Kottayam for looting 7kg gold from a jewellery shop at gun point.
"Manoj demanded Rs 75 lakh from mall authorities and made about 15 calls from August 22 till Thursday to the mall. He spoke in English and had central Travancore Malayalam slang. He morphed an identity card to purchase a SIM card in name of Shihab Ali from a shop near Durbar Hall Ground and used it to make hoax calls. Though, we suspected another person, the entire operation was carried out by Manoj alone," said Kochi police commissioner K G James.
Soon after making the first call, he switched off his mobile phone and removed the battery. After his threat calls last Friday, the mall was evacuated. Later on the same day, the accused called to inform that he had planted three bombs in the property and asked mall authorities to hand over Rs 75 lakh. He directed them to hand over cash on the Thrissur-Palakkad highway. Though cops waited for Manoj in many spots, he didn't turn up, but continued to make calls over the week. "Meanwhile, mall authorities gave us the audio recording. We noted the English and Malayalam usage of the accused and checked our records. Incidentally, sub-inspector Santhosh of Hill Palace Police Station, who was working in Kottayam when he looted gold from a jewellery shop, identified his voice. This made the investigation easy," said Thrikkakara assistant commissioner Xavier Sebastian.
Manoj, a father two, was working in the Gulf as an IT employee and drawing a monthly salary of Rs 3.5 lakh. He returned home three years ago. He then purchased a cardamom plantation at Munnar, opened an IT firm in his wife's name, started a chicken farm at Meenakshipuram near Palakkad and opened a sales shop in Munnar. However, all his business projects failed and he was facing a financial crisis. He was produced before the Aluva judicial first class magistrate and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.