Chhota Rajan was just another target for Munna

The city police have cut short the free run of a daring interstate burglar, who had even made good with valuables over Rs9 crore from notorious underworld element Chhota Rajan’s Mumbai house in 2001.

Hameed Qureshi, 36, who gained notoriety as Mumbai Munna, has been arrested and cash and jewellery worth Rs30 lakh recovered from him, deputy commissioner of police (south) Sonia Narang told reporters on Monday.

Munna, who also went by the alias, Salim Ali Hussein Khan, was picked up while on a visit to his mother-in-law, a city resident. He also had plans to commit a theft in Bangalore, but it was foiled as the police caught up with him at Chickpet.

Narang said he had been involved in burglaries committed in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Jaipur. “He used to move around in high-end cars, and had even purchased a Mitsubishi Lancer car with the money looted from various places,” she added.

The Lancer, too, had been confiscated, police said, adding that Munna had confessed to 36 thefts committed in several states.

Munna, earlier arrested by the Pune police, was released from jail in July 2010. After his release, he and his associates committed a series of thefts in Pune, Hyderabad and Jaipur.

Besides the arrest of Munna, the south division police also claimed to have solved 160 criminal cases with the arrest of 105 offenders in the past one month. Stolen property worth more than Rs1.68 crore was recovered.