Malappuram: A thief, who remained elusive for two months after multiple robberies in the Angadippuram panchayat in Malappuram, was finally nabbed on Wednesday from Pattambi.

Pandiyarappalli Noufal (37), a native of Pezhakkappilly in Muvattupuzha, had stolen over 100 sovereigns of gold.

An accomplice, Poovathingal Basheer (43) of Manjalungal was also taken into custody by the police unit of Perinthalmanna town in Malappuram. The police team searched Pattambi, Palakkad based on a tip-off, and made the arrests.

According to the police, Noufal is accused of stealing from around 25 houses in Malappuram and Palakkad districts.

Noufal's largest heist at Angadippuram was reported on June 13 when he broke into the house of Millupadi Puthanparambil Sibi and stole 72 sovereigns of gold, five watches, Rs 12,000 and 250 Riyal.

Noufal had also broken into places of worship and schools. He stole a laptop and destroyed the furniture and electrical equipment at the Tharakan Higher Secondary School.

“We got the information that the thief came to Angadippuram from West Bengal by train on a series of days for robberies. An investigation was conducted based on the trains from North India and cops were deployed police in mufti,” the Perinthalmanna Police said.

Noufal, who has worked as a lorry driver, was proficient in Hindi, Bengali and Tamil besides Malayalam.

The district police faced a lot of criticism from the public for failure to capture the thief even as CCTV footage of the culprit was available. Noufal allegedly conducted thefts at Andadippuram even when a probe was on to nab him.

A police team led by Perinthalmanna DySP M Santhosh Kumar, Inspector of Police Premjith and SI Shjo C Thankachan interrogated the accused.