Thief who stole from house slept in bus shelters with gold loot in pockets

BENGALURU: The Puttenahalli police have arrested a thief who would sleep at night in plain sight at bus shelters to avoid suspicion, and have recovered Rs 40 lakh worth of gold ornaments from him. The police worked three months to catch the thief.

The thief, identified as ‘Touch’ Ganesh, had stolen from more than 20 houses in the city. After committing the theft, he would keep the gold ornaments in his pockets and sleep at bus shelters. The night patrol police would dismiss him as a beggar and Ganesh would thus escape detection.

The police recently came across CCTV footage of the thief walking along a road after committing crime.

Making matter even more difficult for the police, Ganesh would not use a mobile phone and would avoid houses which had CCTV cameras. However, the police came across CCTV footage where he is seen walking along a road after committing a theft about 20 days ago. The police then tracked his movement and found that he went to sleep at a bus shelter.

Based on suspicion, the police picked up Ganesh, who revealed about the theft during questioning. He admitted to getting the stolen gold sold through his acquaintances. The police also picked up Ganesh’s friend Raghu who spilled the beans on the stolen gold. The Puttenahalli police are conducting further investigation.