Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 26 (IANS): Seeking to end the embarrassment after news surfaced that a civil police officer had made off with a 10 kg box of mangoes from a shop, the Kerala Police on Wednesday dismissed the "mango thief" from service.

The dismissal order was issued by the Superintendent of Police, Idukki

In September last year, police officer P.V. Shihab was caught on a CCTV, placed outside a shop at Kanjirapally in Kottayam district, carrying away a box of costly mangoes priced over Rs 500 per kg.

The visuals showed him keeping the box on his two-wheeler and driving away.

When the shopkeeper came to open his shop, he soon realised that a box of mangoes was missing. He checked his CCTV and was aghast to find a policeman had taken away the fruit.

After the video went viral, Shihab, who is attached to the Idukki Armed Reserve camp police unit, disappeared and was on the run for a while.

Soon a case against him was registered by the local police and following a probe, the Idukki Superintendent of Police ordered his suspension.

However for Shihab, the situation worsened as numerous reports of various police officials indulging in crimes surfaced, leaving the state police red-faced. The state government spoke tough, saying that the wrongdoers will not be allowed to go scot free and subsequently, Shihab was dismissed from service.