BENGALURU: A 34-year-old bodybuilder who had bagged third place in Mr Andhra Bodybuilding Competition has been arrested along with his associate by the Girinagar police in connection with 32 chain snatching cases.
The main accused, Syed Basha, used to come to the city in a bus, steal a bike and snatch women’s gold chains. After the mugging, the accused kept watch on the activities around the police station limits for a few days before returning.
The police recently recovered a stolen bike, checked the GPS tracker to verify if the bike was used for the crime and retrieved information about the duo. The bodybuilder has been arrested earlier in Andhra Pradesh for robbery where he was advised by another criminal to shift to Bengaluru to find more victims. Basha and his associate Sheikh Ayub (32) are from Ravindra Nagar in the Kadapa district.
The police recovered gold chains weighing around 100 grams and 2 two-wheelers. He had snatched chains from Girinagar, Subramanyapura, Cottonpet, and Jnanabharati among other areas.
“Basha is a popular name among bodybuilders in Andhra Pradesh. They are wanted in 20 chain-snatching cases in that state. The accused is said to have been involved in chain snatching cases in order to go to upscale gyms for bodybuilding. He also led a lavish lifestyle,” said an officer part of the investigations.