In a landmark judicial verdict underscoring that the long arm of the law eventually catches up with fugitives, a sessions court in Kerala has sentenced 76-year-old Abdul Samad to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment for his direct involvement in a sensational bank robbery committed nearly four decades ago. Delivering the verdict on Tuesday, Kalpetta Additional District and Sessions Court Judge L. Jayavanth found Samad, a resident of Kollam, guilty of armed robbery, criminal trespass, and assault in connection with the heist executed at the Nallurnad Service Cooperative Bank in Wayanad back in 1988. In addition to the extensive custodial sentence, the court slapped a monetary fine of ₹16,000 on the septuagenarian convict, specifying that failure to remit the fine will result in an additional default imprisonment term of 10 months.

The 1988 Heist: Crowbar Assault, Smashed Strongrooms, and Vanished Gold

The roots of the protracted criminal case date back to the early morning hours of January 8, 1988, when an armed six-member gang pulled up in a getaway vehicle outside the Nallurnad Service Cooperative Bank in rural Wayanad. The syndicate broke open the entry padlocks, forced their way into the premises, and breached the strongroom to decamp with an entire safe holding approximately one kilogram of gold ornaments along with ₹5,544 in hard currency. During the commission of the heist, two local residents who rushed toward the building after hearing suspicious commotions were brutally assaulted with an iron crowbar before the criminals sped away. While initial investigations led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of four syndicate members—Subair, Suresh Babu, Alikutty, and Naseer—in 1993, another accomplice named O.K. Babu evaded the police for nearly three decades before surrendering in 2017, leaving Samad as the last remaining fugitive.

Trial in Custody: 40 Witnesses and 166 Documents Nail Final Absconder

Samad managed to evade state and central tracking for over 36 years until local intelligence operatives finally tracked down his hideout, arresting him in October 2024. He was subsequently placed under judicial custody and subjected to an expedited trial. During the evidentiary hearings, the prosecution dismantled the defense by examining roughly 40 eyewitnesses, bank officials, and forensic personnel, while presenting 166 documentary exhibits alongside 21 material objects seized under official police Panchnamas. The investigation, originally launched by the Mananthavady police before being handed over to specialized state detective teams, finally drew to a definitive close, providing a rare and dramatic closure to one of Wayanad's oldest unsolved criminal dockets.