The burglar, who had drilled a hole in first floor of a lodge room to enter a jewellery store, was nabbed on Monday and the jewels were recovered.
According to DCP (West) Anuchet, the accused, Hussain had boarded a bus to Belagavi and the alert driver informed the police, which made it possible for them to intercept Husain.
According to a report by the Deccan Herald, Mohammed Hussain (32), who had a criminal record, was apprehended by the police team from Kittur in Belagavi district, within 12 hours of the case being registered over the burglary at Kanchan Jewellers.
On June 19, Hussain had checked into Platinum Lodge, which is located on the first floor of the building and houses a jewellery store on the ground floor.
Hussain drilled a one-and-a-half foot-wide hole into the floor of room number 102, which is located right above the jewellery store. He slid down the hole into the store and stole 1.3 kg of gold and 14 kg of silver items. With the job done, he fled from the spot at around 7am.
“CCTV footage of the lodge had recorded Hussain’s movements. We learnt that he is not a resident of Bengaluru and circulated his photo on WhatsApp groups and sought information from state-run crews of private buses. We received a tip-off from the driver of a Mumbai-bound bus, who informed us that a man resembling Hussain was seated in his vehicle but had his head shaved off,” DCP Anuchet said.
A team of policemen led by Kamakshipalya Police Inspector MR Harish began tracking the bus and caught up with it in Kittur where the driver had pulled into a roadside eatery.
According to Inspector Harish, Hussain had visited a barber shop right after stealing the valuables and had his head shaved off to put the police off his trail. “He had planned to go to Ahmedabad via Mumbai to sell the jewels,” he added.
“The stolen articles have been fully recovered from the suspect. The jewellery store owner claimed that 3 kg of gold was stolen. If we find out that he lied to us, we will take legal action against him as well,” DCP Anuchet added.
He said that Hussain had committed similar crimes in Belagavi and Mangaluru last year. “His modus operandi was to spot a jewellery shop which was located below a lodge and loot the store by drilling a hole in the floor of the room above it,” the DCP said.
The idea to rob the store struck Hussain when he was having tea at a stall near the jewellery store. He then checked into the lodge on June 19 and booked room number 101. But he soon realised after drilling through that it was not located above the shop. He then asked the hotel staff for a bigger room and moved into room number 102. He used the drilling machines late at night and never wanted the hotel staff to clean his room, DCP Anuchet said.
“Hussain had run away from his home and was living in Kalaburagi. He had stolen Rs 15 lakh and 300 grams of gold from a co-operative society in Belagavi and used it for his sister’s wedding. He used a part of the money to open a tea stall. He also has a criminal case against him in Mangaluru,” the DCP added.