BENGALURU: A 33-year-old habitual thief who has over 85 theft cases against him and who is also known for escaping from judicial as well as police custody has been arrested by the Govindarajanagar police.
The arrested identified as Karthik alias ‘Escape’ Karthik is a resident of Kothanur and has committed thefts across South Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Having studied till Class 6, Karthik started committing theft when he was aged 16. He has been active in crime since 2005. The police have also arrested his associates, Dileep, 23, and Sanjay, 24. The police recovered valuables worth Rs 70 lakh from them.
Karthik has committed thefts at residences in Basaveshwaranagar, KP Agrahara, Kamakshipalya and other areas. He has 18 arrest warrants pending against him and has escaped thrice from police custody. He had once escaped from the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in 2007 by hiding in a vegetable van that had come to the prisons to deliver vegetables and since then his alias name has been ‘Escape’.
Three years later, he had managed to escape from the custody of the JB Nagar police when he was taken for a spot mahazar (recreation of the crime scene) but was caught again later. In his very first attempt in 2005, he had managed to steal Rs 10 lakh in cash from a house in Hennur which transformed him into a professional thief. Initially, Karthik’s reflexes were good as was good at running, jumping and climbing and that helped him to commit burglary. His girlfriend’s brother had stabbed his leg and he could no longer run like before.
Karthik and his associates go around the city on bikes looking for locked houses. After identifying the locked houses, they strike at night. The accused, after the theft, pledged the gold at gold financing firms and spent money to lead a lavish lifestyle. The police are also initiating action against the gold financing firm for receiving the stolen gold.