Mother tips off cops on sons

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is only natural for a mother to defend and protect her children even when the latter has committed a crime. She would not care even if the whole world was against them. But 42-year-old Shobhana, the mother of two grown-up men, does not belong to that league. She has set an example to others by helping the police in nabbing her own sons, who had allegedly plotted and executed the murder of two persons.  Shobhana is the mother of Prasanth and Sreekanth, who were arrested by the police on Thursday from the city on the charge of brutally murdering goonda leaders Kokkode Shyam and Praveen last week.  According to the police, as soon as they came to know of the involvement of Prasanth and Sreekanth in the case, they summoned their parents Appukuttan and Shobhana to the station. It was then that she admitted that her sons had committed a terrible crime and offered to help the police trace their whereabouts.  ‘’Rarely do we disclose the details of the informers who give us a tip-off, for the sake of their own safety. But here, the case is different. She did not allow her mother’s instincts to overcome her, while deciding to help us. Hence, I felt it was necessary to give her credit as it was something that could be emulated by others as well,’’ said Nedumangad Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Shafi.  Shobhana had made several phone calls from his office to trace the location of her sons. When she knew that they were hiding in one of their relative’s house at Ambalathara, it was Shobhana who had instructed them to come to Thampanoor so that they could get out of the district and then passed on the information to the police, which made things easy for them, the DySP added. However, Shobhana was not available for any response.   It is a common fact that the police face hostile response from the family of suspects, whenever the police personnel visit their houses as part of investigation. There have been instances when the women in the family have even gone to the extent of making false allegations against the policemen.  Prasanth and Sreekanth were produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.