HYDERABAD: Elusive inter-state car thief Satyendra Singh Shekhawat was brought to the city on a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant from Bengaluru by Banjara Hills police.
Shekhawat, an MBA graduate, stole five cars in the city including Kannada film producer Manjunath's Fortuner last year from a star hotel at Banjara Hills. While the city cops unsuccessfully tried to arrest him twice, Bengaluru cops finally managed to nab him last month from Jaipur, his native place.
Shekhawat came under city police radar for the first time in January 2021 during a probe into the theft of a Toyota Fortuner from a star hotel on Road No. 2, Banjara Hills. The car belonged to Kannada film producer V Manjunath and was stolen on January 26 from a hotel’s parking area where Manjunath's driver had left it.
Police identified Shekhawat through CCTV footage and a team of Banjara Hills police went to his house in Jaipur. As Shekhawat was not at home, cops spoke to his wife and his father, an ex-serviceman. While police waited in Jaipur for a week, Shekhawat contacted the cops and requested them to not trouble his family while also offering to surrender. However, Shekhawat did not keep his word and even teased them by sending messages stating ‘catch me if you can’, forcing police to return empty-handed.
Though Banjara Hills cops were still looking for him, Shekhawat came to the city and drove away in an Isuzu pick-up truck from the house of a software engineer in Nacharam in April 2021.
This time, Nacharam cops of Rachakonda went to Jaipur and arrested Shekhawat’s wife for allegedly assisting him, but the local court granted her bail and Nacharam cops too had to return empty-handed.
Finally, Bengaluru police managed to arrest Shekhawat from Jaipur last month. Banjara Hills police brought him to the city from Bengaluru on Friday night on a PT warrant.
According to Banjara Hills inspector K Nageshwar Rao, Shekhawat committed five car thefts in the city.
“He purchased car lock key frequency scanners, car key programming devices and key cutting gadgets online by spending a few lakhs of rupees. He prepared duplicate keys by scanning the original key frequency and stole the cars. He stole more than 60 cars across the country and we are trying to gather more details of his modus operandi. He is a habitual offender and disposes of the stolen cars in Rajasthan and other North Indian states,” the inspector said.
