Police arrested a Madrasa teacher, who prompted children to steal gold and money from their houses and also for sexually abusing a 14 year-old child, on Tuesday.
The team led by Ullikkal station Sub Inspector K V Nishith arrested the suspect Abdul Kareem, 45, of Ulikkal Nuchiyad Madrasa. He had been absconding after five cases were filed against him at the station.
He was taken into custody from Karnataka, where he had gone into hiding, said Mr. Nishith.
The suspect carried out the crime after misleading the children by citing that they would go to heaven and meet God if they brought him the gold and money.
To hide his crime, the suspect told the children they and their parents would go insane and lose their ability to speak, police added. He had stolen 15 sovereigns of gold in this manner. Most children were in the age group of 10 to 14 years, the police said.
The suspect also had unnatural sex with a 14 year old boy. Besides charging him under various sections of Indian Penal Code, he was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
