Telangana native arrested for jewellery thefts in Kerala

Telangana native arrested for jewellery thefts in Kerala

The Thiruvananthapuram city shadow police on Wednesday nabbed a Telangana native on charges of multiple jewellery thefts in the city over the past month. The accused has been identified as Sampathi Uma Prasad (23), a native of Khammam district in Telangana.

His alleged modus operandi of travelling to the city from his native place in flights and returning home again in flights with the booty generated curiosity around the case. Briefing the media about the case, District Police Chief (Thiruvananthapuram City) C.H. Nagaraju said the accused used to go around the city in autorickshaws and marked on his Google Maps app opulent houses that were found to be locked from the outside. Later at night, he would return to the houses he had marked during the recce to carry out theft. Jewellery worth ₹5.27 lakh was allegedly stolen from a house in the Pettah police station limits, and jewellery worth ₹77,000 from two houses in the Fort police station limits.

According to the police, the accused first arrived in the city on May 28 in a flight from Hyderabad. During this trip, he visited tourist places and temples in the city, including Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. He is assumed to have made his initial plans for jewellery theft during this visit.

Four days later, he returned to the city in another flight. This time, he stayed back for a longer period, till July 1, during which he is learnt to have carried out extensive trips around the city in autorickshaws, mostly in areas closer to the hotels in which he was staying. Incidentally, the police, who were struggling to get a lead on the jewellery cases, zeroed in on an autorickshaw while analysing the CCTV visuals near one of the houses.

The autorickshaw driver identified the location – a hotel – from which the accused had hailed the ride. From the hotel, the police got more clues on the accused’s identity. During further tracking, it emerged that he had booked a flight to Thiruvananthapuram which was set to arrive on Wednesday morning. The shadow team nabbed him from the airport as soon as he arrived.

According to the police, he used regular cutting tools to break into the houses. The accused also ensured that his face was not caught on any CCTV camera. The stolen jewellery were pawned with various finance companies.

The police said he was accused of a house break-in as a juvenile. Later, he was involved in several other cases of theft in his home State.