KOLLAM: Antony Varghese alias Aadu Antony, 47, on the run for the murder of a police driver here three years ago, has been arrested from the residence of his wife in Palakkad but what has given him away is the affection for his special child born to another woman.
A team, led by Palakkad special branch Dy SP M L Sunil, apprehended Antony as he alighted from an autorickshaw along with his wife at their house near Gopalapuram at Chittoor in Palakkad on Tuesday morning.
A police party later in the day whisked him off to Kollam, from where he had escaped after stabbing police driver Maniyan Pillai to death and injuring ASI Joy during a night patrol at Parippally on the night of June 25, 2012.
Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh to the 18-member police team, led by Mr Sunil. He also assured police official the late Mr Pillai's family that he would ensure maximum punishment for Antony, who is accused in over 200 cases.
State police chief T P Senkumar said the arrest was the result of a sustained probe. Mr Sunil said the house in Palakkad was on surveillance for at least a month.
Antony has sired eight sons in his liaisons with many women across the state. Anticipating chances of Antony contacting the wife in Palakkad, the police kept tracking her mobile phone.
It was later found that she was getting frequent calls from the mobile phone of another woman in Kozhinjampara near Kerala-Tamilnadu border in Palakkad.
On probe, police got information that a person used to frequently visit the woman, identified as Bindhu.
“Our team members were camping in different places on Tamil Nadu-Kerala border over the last five days anticipating that Antony would come to Gopalapuram. One Tuesday morning we received information that he was coming”, said Mr Sunil.
Over the last three years, after he gave the slip to the police along with wife Susan in Thiruvananthapuram, he was on police trail. They were determined to track down Antony at any cost, using even the social media.
The failure to arrest the murderer of a police man was even admitted openly by Mr. Jacob Punnose while stepping down from the state police chief post.
