"High-flying" thief arrested from UP for Pimpri burglaries

Police have arrested a 36-year-old Uttar Pradesh man who used to travel to Pune by plane just to execute housebreakings in the adjoining industrial town of Pimpri-Chinchwad in Maharashtra, an official said on Wednesday.

Police said they have managed to put the brakes on the housebreaking sprees of the accused, Anil Rajbhar, a resident of Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, who after landing in the city, used to check-in at luxury hotels.

"While investigating some housebreaking cases in the Wakad area, we scanned a lot of CCTV footages of hotels and lodges.

"While checking one such CCTV footage, the hotel staff informed us about one person whose movements were found to be suspicious," said a senior officer of the Wakad police station.

Based on this clue and other information, the police traced him to Jaunpur from where he was nabbed last week, he said.

"Rajbhar was arrested and during his custodial interrogation, he confessed to having executed a couple of housebreakings in the Wakad area.

"We have also recovered gold ornaments and a laptop, collectively worth Rs 8 lakh," he said.

Explaining his modus operandi, the officer said, the accused used to fly down to Pune frequently and stayed in a hotel for 2 to 3 days.

During that period, Rajbhar used to commit house burglaries in a particular area and then fly back to his native state with the booty, he added.