India: Burglar involved in 260 cases and jailed 209 times, arrested again in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: A 60-year-old man involved in as many as 260 cases of burglaries over the last 40-odd years has ben arrested in the South Indian city of Hyderabad, as he returned to his old life weeks after he came out of jail.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Task Force, Chakravarthy Gummi said that Mantri Shankar alias Shivanna, a resident of Hyderabad, was arrested along with his accomplices Syed Asa, Meraj and Moiz Khan in connection with theft, burglary and other offences.

Manti Shankar was so far arrested 22 times and court sentenced him to jail 209 times (In different cases, he was jailed by different courts and served terms concurrently). He had become so notorious for theft and burglaries that police enforced Preventive Detection Act four time against him. Last time he was released from jail only 22 days ago.

“Soon after his release he had resumed burglaries,” the police official said. “During this short period of time he and his gang committed six offences in three police commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda”.

Mantri Shankar, who started his crime spree in 1979, is an expert in scaling walls and jumping from one house into another making it difficult to notice and arrest him by the police patrol and the people.

He would use iron rods and screw drivers to break open the locks and break into houses and shops, police said.

“Normally he would commit the crimes between 1am and 4am,” the DCP said. “He will also frequently shift his place of residence and commit offences in different areas.”