Man behind 70 house break-ins arrested

VISAKHAPATNAM: He is a different kind of thief. He sleeps in some cinema theatre during the day and roams around the city at night to finalise his targets. He never uses a cell phone as he knows it may give a lead to the cops. He would not trust outsiders, so he roped in his mother and brother and a close friend to help him.
His luck ran out when he was apprehended by the police soon after burgling a house under airport police station limits.Police identified him as 35-year-old S Anil Kumar from Sivajipalem area in the city.
According to city police commissioner CM Trivikram Varma, Anil was involved in more than 70 house break-ins in both AP and Telangana. “He has a novel style of functioning. He would first steal a two-wheeler and conduct a recce on the bike before zeroing in on his target. He would never carry any weapon or tool, but would always manage to break into locked houses by using whatever is available in and around the place of theft,” he said.
On the night of May 6, Anil entered the locked house of a doctor at Vasavi Paradise apartment in Ganesh Nagar near NAD Junction and escaped with gold and silver ornaments and cash. Cops, after scanning the CCTV footage, found a two-wheeler with Telangana registration was used in the crime, which led to his arrest. His mother, brother, and a friend who used to help in selling the stolen goods, were also arrested.
Varma said Anil was released from Karimnagar jail on April 18 and was back to his old ways the very next day by stealing a two-wheeler in Medak district. Cops recovered stolen goods worth 5.8 lakh from him, besides 181 grams of gold and 250 grams of silver.
One of the investigation officers in the case said Anil never used a cell phone.