We've seen some truly entertaining thieves in Malayalam cinema, including ones who leave behind notes for the house-owners. But as they say, truth is stranger than fiction and a real life thief from Kerala has imitated his celluloid inspirations. Kollam native Jose, popularly called 'Motta' Jose, wrote a letter to the man whose house he'd paid an uninvited visit.
His request? Please keep something in the house which he can steal the next time!
But unlike films where the thief wins the appreciation of the audience, Motta Jose has landed himself in jail because of his "request".
Police officers of Paravoor in Kollam district of Kerala were on the hunt for a thief who'd stolen 50 sovereigns of gold from a house in the same area last week. A few days ago, the police received information that Motta Jose was allegedly behind the theft.
On Monday, the police, who were working with the residents of the area to nab the thief, noticed that the doors of a house which was usually locked up, were open. Though the team spotted the thief and chased after him, he managed to escape. However, the police reportedly identified him to be Motta Jose, who'd been in jail for theft and had been released two weeks ago.
When the police inspected the house, they found the letter that Motta Jose had written for the house-owner in Malayalam: "The next time you leave your house, keep money and gold for me. Otherwise, I will break in here again. You can lock the house, you can lock the door."
The police told TNM that it seemed like Jose had been living in the house for a few days.
"The house seemed like Jose had inhabited it for the past few days. We did a fingerprint analysis in the house and confirmed that it was Jose," a police official said.
After the police came to the conclusion that the thief was allegedly Jose, officers were deployed in mufti in the area to nab him.
Early in the morning on Thursday, Jose was finally nabbed. It was the residents in the area who spotted him.
"Though he tried to run away, the youngsters who spotted him were able to get hold of him and handed him over to us," the police said.
The police also retrieved the 50 sovereign of gold that Jose allegedly stole from the house in the area earlier.
Jose has been arrested under Indian Penal Code sections 457 (Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence), 461 (Dishonestly breaking open receptacle containing property) and 380 (Theft in dwelling house), and has been remanded.
The notorious Jose is also famous for one incident which showed that he had a heart. According to reports, Jose had once entered a house to steal but he saw that the family was about to kill themselves. Jose then called out for help and even gave the family some money.