CHENNAI: A high-flying cloth trader, who resorted to robberies in Chennai whenever he incurred losses and then returned to his regular business, was arrested by the city police at the airport, where he had gone to board a flight to Malaysia.
Hailing from a lower middle class family at Manjakuppam in Cuddalore, 37-year-old M Suhel Ahmed has reportedly committed over 25 crimes, mostly house break-ins, at various places in the city such as Thirumangalam, Shastri Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur and Anna Nagar since 1999. He was first caught in a car-lifting case in 2000.
After his release from jail in 2001, he returned to the criminal ways but changed his modus operandi to ensure that he did not leave behind his finger prints, which were the give away’s for his first arrest — he started wearing gloves while breaking into houses. He also stopped lifting cars.
Since he left no evidence the police were confused initially over the identity of the robber. However, after a diamond heist at a house in Anna Nagar, police formed a team, headed by the then Anna Nagar crime inspector Lingathirumaran (now with the J J Nagar police station) to catch the robber, City Commissioner of Police K Radhakrishnan told reporters here on Tuesday.
The special team identified Suhel Ahmed as the possible culprit and started searching for him. In the meantime, he robbed various houses in the city and then took off to Sri Lanka and Malaysia on business, said a senior police officer.
He was known as businessman in his friends’ circle and he too moved around as one, wearing costly clothes and shoes and travelling in cars. He lived in Bangalore, where he also sold the gold jewellery he stole in Chennai and went to Mumbai to dispose of diamonds. When there is a downslide in his cloth business, Ahmed would come to Chennai and break into houses.
Explaining his modus operandi, the police officer said that he would identify a house and then gain entry through the rear door either by breaking open the lock or dismantling the windows. He will make a mess of the house by ransacking the things. After removing the valuables, he will place the rest of the things in place.