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More than seven years after he was wrongly branded a thief, arrested, and jailed for nearly two months, Kannur native V K Thajudheen has finally won a measure of justice. The Kerala High Court has directed the state government to pay him Rs 14 lakh in compensation for his illegal arrest and custodial suffering, including Rs 1 lakh each to his wife and three children.
Thajudheen, who worked in Qatar, was mistakenly identified as a chain-snatcher based on CCTV footage and harassed by the police in 2018 when he had returned to Kerala for his daughter’s wedding. He spent 54 days in jail for a crime he did not commit.
In an order delivered on October 14, 2025, Justice PM Manoj said the compensation was intended to ensure that police officers do not indulge in such “irresponsible conduct” and that it should serve as a deterrent against similar actions by other officials in the future. The judge also said that Thajudheen and his family were free to seek civil law remedies against the erring police officers. A copy of the order was published on January 8, 2026.
Speaking to TNM over the phone, Thajudheen said that while he got justice, he has not yet recovered from the physical and mental agony he suffered during the case. “I have suffered huge losses after my business collapsed following the case. This won’t compensate for all that. Still, I could say that I got justice. I will file a civil case against the officers responsible,” he said.
TNM had reported on Thajudheen’s ordeal in 2021.
Lawyer Asaf Ali, who represented Thajudheen before the High Court, said the court accepted the findings of the Deputy Superintendent of Police who found lapses in the initial investigation. “The police later found that their findings against Thajudheen were wrong. They had not only harassed Thajudheen, but also insulted his wife and children,” Asaf Ali said, adding that the High Court’s findings would strengthen Thajudheen’s case if he sought additional compensation through civil proceedings.
Thajudheen’s ordeal began on the night of August 11, 2018, when police took him into custody while he was returning home with his family. At the Chakkarakkal police station, officers showed them CCTV footage of a bearded man who had snatched a woman's gold chain, and accused Thajudheen of being the person in the video. Despite repeated denials by Thajudheen and his family, a case was registered against him as the first accused.
The police failed to recover any material evidence, including the stolen chain or the white scooter allegedly used for the crime. Even so, Thajudheen was remanded to judicial custody. During the investigation, he was paraded through a public road by the police in the name of evidence collection, pushing him into deep mental agony.
The arrest had serious consequences for his livelihood. Unable to report back to work in Qatar due to his detention in Kerala, Thajudheen was later arrested upon his arrival there, detained for 23 days, and deported to India.
His innocence came to light only after the arrest of Sarath Valsaraj, a habitual offender, in a similar chain-snatching case. Subsequent investigation confirmed that Sarath was the man seen in the CCTV footage, riding a white scooter. Police had earlier ignored crucial evidence in Thajudheen’s favour, including proof that he was at a beauty parlour getting his daughter ready at the time the crime was committed.
A department-level inquiry later found fault with the investigating officers, including then sub-inspector P Biju, assistant sub-inspectors Yogesh and T Unnikrishnan.
The High Court said the state government can recover the compensation amount from policemen responsible after adopting due procedure.
