HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old man who has been named as an accused in 107 burglary cases was apprehended by the Karkhana police on Friday.
They seized 123 grams of gold ornaments, 202 grams of silver, a mobile phone and Rs 5,000 cash from his possession, all totalling Rs 10,00,000.
The accused, identified as Mohammed Avez Ahmed, has had a criminal record since 2005 and has been booked in cases across Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda police commissionerates.
Police said that the PD Act was imposed on him twice - once in 2016 by the Medipally police station and later in 2021 by the Kukatpally police station.
The habitual offender was caught after he broke into a locked house on Monday afternoon. He stole gold and silver ornaments, cash worth 4,000 and a mobile phone. Based on CCTV footage and technical evidence, the police traced and apprehended Ahmed.
During investigation, the police learnt that the accused targeted locked houses during the day. “He then enters the premises and uses an iron rod, which he carries with him, to break the door lock. Once inside, he commits theft and takes off,” said DCP of North Zone Rashmi Perumal.
Upon interrogation, the accused confessed to his involvement in five recent instances at Gachibowli, Langar Houz, Trimulgherry and Karkhana.
Based on his confession, at around 2 pm on Monday, Ahmed first attempted to break into a house in Durga Vihar colony in Trimulgherry. However, he failed.
Half an hour later, he allegedly went to Priya colony in Karkhana, managed to break into a house and stole Rs 3,000.
About 20 minutes later, he found another house at Jawahar Railway colony at Karkhana where he managed to break in and steal gold, silver and cash.
In the Gachibowli case, he had gone along with another habitual offender, Salam Bin Ali Timmi, to steal from houses, the police learnt.
The police have advised the public to avoid leaving main gates visibly locked and install surveillance cameras and alarm systems. Investigation is on for further details, they added.