Inter-State thief wanted in 260 cases arrested in Kalaburagi

The police having a look at the recovered items in Kalaburagi on Monday.
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

The police have cracked a series of inter-State theft cases by arresting an inter-State thief and recovering 412 grams of stolen gold ornaments worth ₹30 lakh from his possession here.

Police Commissioner Sharanappa S. Dhage, addressing presspersons in Kalaburagi on Monday, said that based on a complaint lodged at Ashok Nagar Police Station by Shankargowda Jamshetty of Bhagyawanti Nagar stating that 343 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹13 lakh and 40 grams of silver worth ₹10,000 and ₹1,50,000 in cash were stolen from his house between April 10 and April 12 when his family was away from Kalaburagi to attend a car festival in Shahabad town, the Kalaburagi Police started investigation that helped solve inter-State robberies by arresting 56-year-old Shiva Prasad, who is accused in 260 cases in at least three States.

The police arrested a suspect who was wandering around Ram Mandir area at midnight on Sunday. He introduced himself as Shiva Prasad (also known as Mantri Shankar) , basically from Secunderabad in Telangana, and was residing at Latur district in Maharashtra.

During interrogation, he confessed to his involvement in the Ashok Nagar robbery case and revealed that he had hidden the stolen gold jewellery in a relative’s house in Aiyarwadi area in the city.

During extensive questioning, the accused revealed that he was involved in 10 robbery cases in Kalaburagi district.

Dr. Dhage mentioned that Shiva Prasad has a criminal track record of 40 years, with 260 cases in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. He began the life of crime at 14. He has five wives and eight children. He has been jailed four times under the Preventive Detention Act, spending four years behind bars.

Interestingly, the accused has had a practice of offering a share of the stolen amount to temples with the intention that it be used to provide food to the needy. Earlier, he has offered up to ₹5 lakh to a famous temple in Maharashtra and recently, after successfully stealing 34 grams of gold ornaments worth ₹13 lakh in the Ashok Nagar case, he offered around ₹1.5 lakh to a temple at Latur district.

Initially, the case was a challenge to the police as the accused was able to execute the heist without leaving any evidence such as fingerprints, CCTV footage and phone data. He devised a clever modus operandi of applying glue to his palms to alter his fingerprints during robbery.