<p>A 20-year-old man allegedly involved in at least five housebreaks in the city has been arrested. Rs 56 lakh worth of stolen gold and silver items that he had allegedly sold to a goldsmith in Andhra Pradesh have also been recovered. </p>.<p>Manoj Kumar, from Denkanikottai, Tamil Nadu, dropped out of high school and arrived in Bengaluru to work as an office boy at a private firm. But he reportedly fell into bad company and soon found his salary inadequate to support his lifestyle. He then started burgling homes and sold the booty to Surya Bhaskar, 45, a goldsmith from Lakshmipet, Andhra Pradesh. </p>.<p>Kumar was first arrested by Tamil Nadu police two years ago in a theft case and was sent to jail. He, however, got bail and came to Bengaluru.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Method of operation</strong></p>.<p>Kumar went around Bengaluru scouting for locked homes. On spotting one during the daytime, he would once again check in the evening to confirm the house was unoccupied before entering by breaking the window grille and making away with the gold and silver items. </p>.<p>When a series of housebreaks was reported in southern Bengaluru, Puttenahalli police began their investigation by checking the CCTV footage and soon tracked down Kumar. When interrogated, Kumar revealed that he sold the gold items to Bhaskar. A police team visited Lakshmipet and recovered 1.6 kg of gold and 300 grams of silver items from Bhaskar. </p>.<p>Police have taken the duo into custody to find out if they were involved in other thefts. </p>
<p>A 20-year-old man allegedly involved in at least five housebreaks in the city has been arrested. Rs 56 lakh worth of stolen gold and silver items that he had allegedly sold to a goldsmith in Andhra Pradesh have also been recovered. </p>.<p>Manoj Kumar, from Denkanikottai, Tamil Nadu, dropped out of high school and arrived in Bengaluru to work as an office boy at a private firm. But he reportedly fell into bad company and soon found his salary inadequate to support his lifestyle. He then started burgling homes and sold the booty to Surya Bhaskar, 45, a goldsmith from Lakshmipet, Andhra Pradesh. </p>.<p>Kumar was first arrested by Tamil Nadu police two years ago in a theft case and was sent to jail. He, however, got bail and came to Bengaluru.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Method of operation</strong></p>.<p>Kumar went around Bengaluru scouting for locked homes. On spotting one during the daytime, he would once again check in the evening to confirm the house was unoccupied before entering by breaking the window grille and making away with the gold and silver items. </p>.<p>When a series of housebreaks was reported in southern Bengaluru, Puttenahalli police began their investigation by checking the CCTV footage and soon tracked down Kumar. When interrogated, Kumar revealed that he sold the gold items to Bhaskar. A police team visited Lakshmipet and recovered 1.6 kg of gold and 300 grams of silver items from Bhaskar. </p>.<p>Police have taken the duo into custody to find out if they were involved in other thefts. </p>
