Secunderabad: Burglar involved in over 250 offences behind bars again

SECUNDERABAD: A string of house burglaries in Secunderabad recently left police flummoxed. Even as the men in khaki were racking their brains, a chance discovery of a CCTV footage showing a man formally dressed, wearing a baseball cap and shades roaming on the streets at 2am gave them the vital clue. A little probing and a phone call sealed his fate.
Though he introduced himself as a software engineer, it turned out he was a repeat offender. To the shock of police, the accused turned out to be notorious burglar, Mantri Shankar, who was involved in 250 offences and was convicted in 207 offences in his 40-year criminal history.On August 19, 59-year-old Mantri Shankar stepped out of the Cherlapally central prison. However, in a span of 10 days, he had committed 20 offences across the city.
Some of these offences were committed in Karkhana. Karkhana inspector Madhukar Swamy said in a CCTV footage they came across a person loitering near a victim’s house. Apart from being neatly shaven, he was dressed in formal shoes at 2 am on August 28. To hid his face, he used a projected baseball cap and shades.
Despite making several attempts, police could not get any get an image of his face. However, in a footage, they saw the man making a phone call and within no time an auto rickshaw, which did not have any number plate, came to the spot to pick him up. The phone call helped police nab him. Police verified the mobile phone tower locations. They came across four mobile phones being used at 2am in that area of Karkhana. Except a phone user, the remaining three remained in that area. Police tracked the then unknown accused using mobile phone locations and verified CCTV footages. From Karkhana, the accused was seen taking the route to JBS, Mahankali, Tank Bund before entering South Zone and finally his phone was traced to Kamatipura.
Along with Shankar, his accomplice, who drove the auto-rickshaw D Dinakar, was arrested. Police recovered 100 grams of gold ornaments, a two-wheeler and an auto rickshaw from them.
Based on his confession, police, who were under the impression that six house burglaries were committed, found that 20 offences were committed after he came out of the jail