BENGALURU: Next time a salesman or a lost person in search of an address comes knocking at your door, make sure that it is not Syed Ahmed. This 32-year-old, well-dressed thief scouts for unguarded/empty houses in this guise and, interestingly, works only during the first half of the day -- between 10 am and 2 pm.
He has been accused of 80 such house thefts in city and Tumakuru district, and was recently caught once again by Basavanagudi police. Syed has always been on the police’s radar, even when he is released after serving a term. He has been arrested four times and, police sources say, as soon as he steps out of the prison, he goes back to stealing.
How he operated
Syed’s MO has not changed over the years. He visits houses in the guise of a salesman and rings the bell. If no one answers the door, he keeps a watch on the house for a while and then breaks open the door to make away with the booty. If someone does respond, then he gives his cover of searching for an address. This intrepid thief even robbed a police constable’s house using the same MO.
He has an intelligent way of converting stolen goods into legit income. Syed sells the booty at half the price at a pawn broker’s and then buys gold from the proceeds, at regular rates, and keeps the bill.
Police sources say that Syed steals to fund a lavish life. “He had an SUV, and went around in suits and jackets that even cost Rs 10,000.Nobody suspected him of being a thief, since he was so well-dressed.” Syed car has been seized by the police.
He stole from policeman’s house too
While many thieves do not dare to steal from a police personnel’s house, Syed dared to steal from a head constable’s residence, from the police quarters. Recently, he visited Kengeri police quarters in the disguise of salesman. He found Basavanagudi head constable Siddarama’s house locked. Using his skills, he broke open the door and stole 89 gm of the gold. When he was caught by Basavanagudi police, they recovered 800-gm gold worth Rs 24 lakh.