Late-night partying of IT professionals and students made stealing easy.
Hebbal police have arrested two persons for stealing laptops and mobile phones from accommodations of engineers and students.
Both had the same modus operandi: they used to observe their target for a few days and later break into their accommodation.
One of the arrested, Saleem Ahamed, 36, is a resident of Govindapura, came to Bangalore a decade ago. He took to stealing five years ago, said the police. The police recovered 39 laptops and LCD monitors from him. He used to sell laptops for Rs5,000 to Rs12,000.
He used to target IT professionals and students staying in rented houses or in paying guest (PG) accommodation. He told the police that he used to go to PGs about 4.30am and stay there till 7.30am to observe the movement of people living there. He found that many people often left the door unlocked and he used to capitalise on this. He used to dress well so that nobody suspected him.
The police said Ahamed sold stolen laptops in Pune, Bangalore and Tumkur. Most of his customers were IT professionals and students in Pune, said a police officer, Ahamed told the police that it was the late-night partying of the IT professionals and students that made stealing easy for him.
He said the morning after parties, some inmates of a room used to get up early and leave for work, leaving the door unlocked, making it convenient for him to just walk in and steal the valuables.
Thief in guise of student
Also, Hebbal police arrested Sheik Abdul Farooq, 24, an autorickshaw driver, on the same charges. The police recovered laptops and mobile phones worth Rs10.5 lakh from him.
He was employing the same modus operandi as Ahamed, the only difference being he used to pose as a student while committing thefts.
He used to observe the timings of the people who used to board his auto. He had stolen seven laptops and some were stolen about five years ago. The police said he was sold laptops for Rs5,000 to Rs6,000. The police said they have identified 25 persons who are Farooq’s victims.
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