BENGALURU: After a string of 160 burglaries across five states, a 54-year-old man, his sons, son-in-law, and brother were arrested by Rajajinagar police. A thief since the age of 10, Prakash has been jailed more than 20 times and has three wives who are from Shivamogga, Ballari and Kolar. They have seven children. The accused would break into houses, committing burglaries in Bengaluru, Kolar, Shivamogga, Ballari, Chitradurga, and Kalaburagi, among other places. He is also involved in burglaries in Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala.
Prakash’s brother Varadaraj, his children Balaraj and Mithun, and son-in-law John have reportedly assisted him in these crimes. Prakash was targeting posh residences, jewellery shops, and finance offices. Around 2.5 kg of gold in Kottayam, Kerala was stolen by him. A similar amount of gold from a jewellery store in Seshadripuram was burgled by drilling the side wall, and around 4.2 kg of gold ornaments from a pawn shop in the city market was also stolen. In 1989, he committed burglaries in Mysuru with the help of his associates.
Along with another associate in 1992, he had stolen nearly 17 kg of gold ornaments from two jewellery stores in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur. In Shivamogga, around seven crores in cash were looted from a finance office.