The Jnanabharati police on Tuesday arrested a 30-year-old constable who allegedly used to attend patrolling duty during the day only to identify his targets and commit burglaries after work hours.
Addicted to betting
According to the police, the accused Yallappa Sanna Sharanappa was addicted to online cricket betting and incurred huge losses to the tune of ₹20 lakh.
To repay the debts, he ganged up with an offender while he was working in Banashankari. The duo attempted to break into a finance company building, but abandoned the plan as the burglary alarm was triggered.
However, the police managed to track down the accused, who confessed that Yallappa was involved, following which he was arrested and suspended from service.
While the police filed a chargesheet pending inquiry, Yallappa got his suspension revoked and was posted to the Devanahalli station, but he continued his criminal activities.
He committed theft at a post office in Chikkajala this August, broke into a house in Chandra Layout in September, and broke into another house in Jnanabharati police station limits in October, according to the police.
How he was tracked
Based on a complaint, a police team, led by inspector Ravi M.S. and PSI Bhagavantray Patil, tracked down the accused in Banashankari.
The accused used to tamper with bike registration number plates to hoodwink the police.
Mr. Patil analysed over 50 CCTV camera footage which led him to Yallappa’s location.
After he was arrested, he was taken to his native place Ballari to recover the stolen booty, including 4.13 kg of silver articles and 26 grams of gold valuables, which he had pawned and the money used to repay the debts.
