Award for detective work

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: T Saju Kumar, senior civil police officer at Fort police station and a member of the City Shadow Police team has been awarded the ‘Badge of Honour for Detective Excellence’, the laurel instituted by the Police Department for the best investigating officer.The award was presented by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at a function held in Thrissur Police Academy on February 24. The prestigious laurel was awarded to Saju Kumar for unravelling the mystery behind the death of a sexagenarian in the bathroom of a theatre in the city.Prabhakaran, a native of Olatrhanni, was found collapsed in the bathroom during the matinee show. Prima facie, it appeared to be a normal death, but the autopsy report confirmed that it was an unnatural death.The case was then taken over by a special team. Saju Kumar, who conducted reconnaissance of the theatre premises, found that several criminal gangs were frequenting the place. He tailed the gangs and found that a youth belonging to one of the gang was injured in his hand and he was staying near Nedumangad.Saju Kumar alerted the senior officers and the suspect was taken into custody. When the youth was questioned, he spilled the beans and divulged that he had murdered the old man for gold.Saju Kumar was also a part of the police team that had nabbed one Kalaiselvam of Tamil Nadu who was accused of murdering two kids and solving the Palode Sanal Kumar murder case by apprehending the culprit from Karimadom Colony.Saju Kumar resides near Thiruvananthapuram Medical College with his wife Vijayasree and children Athira and Akash.