An accused in a theft case who went missing during the trial stage in Puducherry was on Monday arrested by the CB-CID wing of the territorial police from his native in Kerala after a manhunt for more than 16 years. 

Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime and Intelligence, Nithya Radhakrishnan identified the accused as Shajith Areeparambil, a resident of Kannur in Kerala. 

Sharing details of the arrest at a press conference here, the SSP said the accused had absconded during the trial of the case in 2010.

After a prolonged surveillance, he was nabbed from Malappuram in Kerala. The accused was involved in several cases related to vehicle theft, dacoity, cheating and property related offences in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. He kept on changing his identity and place of stay to avoid arrest, she said.