BENGALURU: For this interstate thief, crime was his professional calling and also family tradition. Akbar S, 36, a native of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, had an illustrious career in thieving, right from Andheri in Mumbai to Rani Bagh in New Delhi to Banaswadi in Bengaluru.
When Yelahanka New Town police managed to arrest Akbar for his involvement in a theft in February 2020, they did not know they had got their hands on a professional. Arrested at least eight times, he would obtain bail and simply go back to a life of crime. His parents, Sultan Saifi and Raziya, had trained their son in the art of stealing and escape tactics, especially from the police.
The family stayed in Delhi and later shifted to Mumbai, where Akbar studied up to Class 5 in Model Public School in Andheri. After quitting studies, he started driving an auto rickshaw and on his rounds, would look for locked houses. Father and son would team up to break into the houses and steal valuables. Raziya would also identify locked houses and send them in the dead of night. She was adept at disposing of stolen property.
After the death of his parents, Akbar grew alone and moved south. He then teamed up with Saleem alias Jagga, and Raju Chand of Delhi, and has been active since 2004. Police recovered gold worth Rs 7.2 lakh from him, and arrested his aide Shadab Khan, 28, also from Uttar Pradesh. Further investigations are on.