A 26-year-old jobless graduate has been taken into custody for allegedly looting valuables from a gated apartment complex in Bengaluru, authorities said on Tuesday.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh announced the arrest of Nitesh Subbu, a resident of GM Infinite E City Town, Electronics City Phase 2. Police recovered 15.79 grams of diamond jewellery, 621 grams of gold items, 56.2 grams of silver, and ₹28,000 in cash, with the total haul valued at ₹60.46 lakh.
The theft surfaced when a neighbour noticed the main door of a flat had been pried open. The residence belonged to 62-year-old academic Suresh Iyer, who works in Dehradun and visits Bengaluru occasionally. On June 4, Iyer’s wife received a call from the neighbour alerting her to the break-in. She contacted her nephew, who inspected the flat and lodged a complaint with the Hebbagodi police the next day.
Investigators revealed that Subbu exploited his familiarity with the building layout and residents’ habits, as his sister lived in the adjacent block. Reviewing CCTV footage, officers spotted a man in casual clothes loitering near flats. Subbu was identified and tracked.
Police said he methodically chose targets by ringing doorbells to check occupancy. If no one answered, he searched for hidden keys in places like shoe racks or planters, or forced entry with an iron rod. After his arrest on Monday, he admitted to the burglary and confessed to two other thefts committed on June 22.