Married couple with Rs 62L from house break-ins nabbed

Umesh R Yadav,

A married couple has been arrested for amassing huge wealth by burgling several homes in the city, police said.

Ashok Nagar police arrested J Babu, 33, an auto-rickshaw driver by profession, and his wife Jayanthi Kunttiyamma, 29, and recovered one kg of stolen gold and 5.5 kg of silver from them, said M N Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central). The stolen valuables are valued at Rs 62 lakh.

The couple is accused of burgling at least five homes. They would identify locked homes during daytime and return in the night to confirm that the inhabitants were indeed away.

Kunttiyamma would then walk to the locked house and unlock the door with a bunch of duplicate keys. After entering the house, she would signal her husband to come over. Over the next few minutes, the couple would scour the place for valuables, especially gold and silver jewellery.

The couple came under the police radar when Ashok Nagar police started investigating a break-in. CCTV footage showed Babu waiting in an auto outside the house and later going inside. The footage was clear enough for the police to see the auto's registration number. Babu was subsequently tracked down, Anucheth said.

Police also arrested one Mohammed Toufiq, 25, and seized valuables worth Rs 1.5 crore from him. Toufiq and his accomplice Aleem Ahmed burgled 23 locked homes, police said, adding that the latter remains at large.