Palakkad, June 18: In a bizarre twist to a burglary, a thief who broke into a hotel near Palakkad, cooked himself an elaborate meal, and escaped with ₹25,000 in cash has been arrested by Kerala Police in Thrissur.
The break-in occurred on the night of May 22 at a small hotel in Chandranagar, a suburban locality on the outskirts of Palakkad. CCTV footage later revealed that the intruder, now identified as Shivakumar—a repeat offender from Marthandam near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border—gained entry through the backdoor after midnight.
What followed wasn’t a hurried theft, but an unexpected cooking session. The man reportedly headed straight to the kitchen, where he made himself an omelette using eggs he found on the premises. He didn’t stop there. According to the footage, he opened the refrigerator, found a packet of raw beef, and took his time to cook and eat a full meal.
After more than an hour inside, the man reportedly stumbled upon a purse left behind by the hotel owner, which contained ₹25,000. He took the cash and also managed to walk off with a donation box belonging to a nearby temple, before vanishing into the night.
The incident only came to light the next morning when staff arrived and found signs of a break-in, a messy kitchen, and the half-used beef packet. Suspicious, they checked the CCTV footage and were stunned to see the thief calmly cooking, dining, and looting before exiting.
A police complaint was filed the same day, and the visuals were handed over to investigators. The suspect’s images were shared across districts, and the manhunt eventually led police to Thrissur, where Shivakumar was taken into custody on Wednesday.
He is now being questioned, and police are probing his connection to other recent thefts reported in the region. He will be produced before a magistrate in Palakkad.
