BENGALURU: A 37-year-old burglar who allegedly built a Rs 3 crore bunglow for his girlfriend using the robbed money was arrested in a case of theft of ornaments worth Rs 14 lakh at a house here, the police said on Wednesday.
They said Panchakshari Swamy, who hails from Solapur in Maharashtra, was married and had children but he spent the robbed money lavishly on other women.
He has allegedly committed thefts in many parts of the country over the past two decades.
According to the police, Swamy has been arrested in a case of theft of gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 14 lakh from a house at Maruti Nagar in Bengaluru that occurred on January 9.
His involvement in the theft was revealed with the help of footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras.
With his arrest, the police have seized gold biscuits of 181 gm, silver ornaments of 33 g and a firearm from him.
The police said Swamy started burglaries in 2003 when he was a minor and by 2009, he had become an expert, gaining wealth worth crores through thefts, burglaries and robberies. It was in 2014-15 that he started dating an actress and spent lavishly on her by building a Rs 3 crore house for her in Kolkata, a senior police officer said.
He also allegedly gifted her an aquarium worth Rs 22 lakh, he said, adding he also had links with some other actresses.
The police said that he mostly operated alone and kept a watch over empty houses so that he could target them easily and after committing the theft, he would change clothes to avoid suspicion.