He burgled houses, hired call girls to sell loot

The police said on Friday they had cracked 80 cases of burglary with the arrest of a habitual offender.

Syed Ahmed (32) from Tumakuru had broken into houses in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya, according to the Basavanagudi police.

They have recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 24 lakh from him.

Ahmed got into crime in 2011, and developed a unique modus operandi.

He went around city neighbourhoods wearing a suit. He would press the calling bell. If someone opened the door, he would pretend to be selling household products. People invariably refused to buy, and he would walk away.

If no one answered the door, he would prise it open with a crowbar.

After about half a dozen burglaries, he began to use call girls in his operations.

He would lure them with offers of money and gold and get them to go with him on tours.

He would drape them in burqas and take them around in rented vehicles, giving the impression he was a married man.

Ahmed would then visit jewellery shops and sell stolen jewellery, saying he was in dire need of money. His asking prices were low and the shops would buy from him without much haggling.

New girl every time

After selling his loot, he would drop the call girls back without revealing his identity.

He used a new woman for each operation and drank liquor with the money he
got from the buyers, police said.

Camera clues

When the Basavanagudi police learnt about the similarities in two house-breaks, they began checking CCTV footage.

When they began picking up habitual offenders, Ahmed fell into their hands in Mysuru. After a detailed interrogation, he confessed to the crime, police said.

Each time he was arrested, he came out on bail and got back to his old ways, a senior police officer told DH.

DH News Service