Ebook: The Stolen Necklace: A Small Crime in a Small Town

When V.K. Thajudheen, a middle-aged man working in Doha, returned to his hometown, Kannur, after a few years, little did he know that instead of celebrating his daughter's summer wedding he would be put behind bars for stealing a gold necklace.

The local police, smug at apprehending a criminal in record time, wanted a confession to lock it in. Horrified and bewildered, Thajudheen showed proof that he had been busy with the wedding at the time of the crime. But all proof he provided crumbled in the face of the CCTV footage from that day, for it showed clearly that it was Thajudheen on the scooter, riding away from the crime scene. But how could he be in two places at the same time?

And so started a cat-and-mouse game between Thajudheen and the police-the former trying to prove his innocence and the latter hell-bent on pinning the crime on Thajudheen. The media caught whiff of this case and the whole of Kannur was talking about it.

The Stolen Necklace might seem to about a small crime in a small town, but with its incredible twists and turns, it is ultimately the story of a common man who fought the system and pulled off a miraculous victory.