BENGALURU:East Police arrested a notorious house burglar in the city on Thursday.
Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Seemanth Kumar Singh said Bharatinagar police have have cracked six cases of theft by arresting Manjunath alias Kalkere Manja (32), a resident of Uttarahalli.
Police sources said Manja is a native of Tamil Nadu. He had come to the city at a young age and had started stealing since then. He was jailed between 2015 and 2017. He came out on bail in August and resumed stealing. Police said he stole from two houses in Bharatinagar, one each in Pulakeshinagar, Soladevanahalli and Suryanagar as well as in Hassan district police station limits.
He spent the stolen money on luxurious hotels and food. Branded clothes were his weakness. Police said he also spent money on his girlfriends.Police said Manja’s modus operandi was to zero in on empty houses. He would watch a house for hours and once he gets a confirmation that nobody is staying in the house, he would break in and steal. He targeted luxurious houses located in places that are not too crowded.
He recently bought a second hand Swift car from a person in Tumakuru having paid an advance of `1.5 lakh. He would drive to the targeted house, park the car and after the theft was done, he would drive away from the scene.Police have recovered 850gm of gold, 850gm of silver ornaments and the car from Manja.