Syed Balli Nehar, a Bengaluru-based MA graduate had tried multiple times to get a job. But after his attempts bore no fruit, he turned to something else – stealing expensive electronic and sports equipment… with a rather unconventional modus operandi.
Arrested by the Bengaluru city police on Wednesday, Syed confessed that he had been going to malls and stealing stuff worth thousands of rupees undetected for the last two years, all thanks to his customised underwear.
Syed’s crimes came to light after the store manager of Decathlon at Kothanur found an EyeC camera missing after he conducted an audit. On checking the CCTV footage, he found Syed stuffing the camera down his pants.
He informed the police after which the case was registered. Subsequently, the police found Syed trying to sell the stolen items, and arrested him.
This underwear that Syed used was tight and reached his knees. It also had deep pockets, allowing him to slip items into it after removing tags and passing undetected.
The police said that Syed also had a customised jacket which he used to hide stolen items as he exited stores.
In the two years that he had been doing this routinely, Syed could have stolen goods worth a fortune – the CCTV footage showed him stealing items worth Rs 45,000!
The stolen goods included a pair of binoculars, multiple pairs of riding glasses, a torch and GoPro cameras, among other things.
When he was questioned, Syed told the police that when he did not get caught for any of his previous thefts, he became confident and got the customised underwear and jacket to help him.
A case of theft has been registered against Syed under section 378 of the Indian Penal Code.