Bengaluru: How a brilliant Hyderabad techie, addicted to gaming, ended up becoming a serial burglar wanted in nearly 90 cases

86 this is the number of criminal cases that are lodged against 39 year old L. Srinivas, also known as Kammepalli Srinivas, from Kammepalli village in Andhra Pradesh. He is a debt ridden mechanical engineer based in Hyderabad who committed crimes to make a quick buck which has now landed him in police custody.

Srinivas was a brilliant student and a hardworking professional who worked for a few companies in Hyderabad. Initially his professional life was good. "His problems started when he entered the world of online gambling and gaming where he lost everything'" police said.

Srinivas used to break into locked houses and steal valuables. The Bengaluru police have recovered stolen goods worth Rs.9 lakhs from him. He had robbed three houses in Kodigehalli last month. Majority of his crimes are related to burglary, some are cyber fraud cases where he duped individuals by acting as a job facilitator


He was stays in alone paying guest accommodation. He is a divorcee and his family has distanced from him. His elder brother is techie in U.S. and his mother lives in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, in another case, in Bengaluru's Hongasandra, a 27 year old man named Imranullah from Assam broke into a mobile store through a two foot hole that he had drilled on the wall. The CCTV footage showed a naked masked man moving around the store with surety with lights turned off and only using his phones flashlight to see while his accomplice acted as a lookout. He only stole phone's worth Rs 15,000 or above and the most bewildering part was that he committed this crime stark naked.

On being questioned about his weird fashion choice- he said that he didn't want to ruin his new clothes while squeezing through the two foot hole. The shops CCTV image clearly showed him committing the crime. He had entered the shop with just a mask and a bag. His plan was to sell the phones in black market and use that money to spend on his girlfriend.

On May 9th when Hanuman telecom the mobile store was burgled. Its owner Dinesh a native of Rajasthan was away due to an urgent family matter. The robbery took place between 1.30am and 3.00am. The owner checked the footage remotely around 4am he saw the theft and immediately alerted his friend Vasanaram who works in a nearby mobile shop on Hosa Road.

Vasanaram said that he immediately went to the shop and saw the drilled hole. He informed the police and when he and police entered the shop they saw the missing phones from the display case. Initially the police thought that it was the work of an organised criminal gang. The forensic teams have collected additional evidence and the police are looking out for the second person who acted as the lookout.

The shop's owner Dinesh has lauded the swift action of the police which has now led to the recovery of the stolen goods. Police have charged Imranullah under the relevant sections while he remains in custody.

With inputs from TOI