In a significant breakthrough, Bengaluru police have arrested 37-year-old Panchakshari Sangayya Swamy, a notorious burglar with a criminal history spanning over two decades and multiple states.

Swamy, originally from Solapur, Maharashtra, has been implicated in more than 150 theft and robbery cases across Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.

Swamy’s criminal activities began in 2003 when he was a minor.y 2009, he had honed his skills, becoming a professional burglar. His operations involved meticulously sketching for unoccupied houses, executing thefts with precision, and subsequently changing his attire to evade identification. Over the years, he gained wealth worth crores through these illicit activities.

On a startling revelation, authorities discovered that Swamy had built a lavish ₹3 crore bungalow in Kolkata for his girlfriend, a bar dancer, using the proceeds from his crimes.e also gifted her an aquarium worth ₹22 lakh, underscoring his extravagant spending habits. Despite being married with children, Swamy was known to lavish stolen wealth on multiple women, leading a double life that remained concealed for years.

Swamy’s criminal record includes several arrests. On 2016, he was apprehended by the Gujarat police and subsequently sentenced to six years in the Sabarmati Central Prison for a robbery case.ollowing his release in October 2024, he relocated to Bengaluru, where he resumed his illicit activities. On January 9, 2025, he committed a burglary in the Maruti Nagar area, stealing gold and silver ornaments worth ₹14 lakh. His involvement was confirmed through the analysis of footage from over 200 CCTV cameras, leading to his arrest on January 20 near the Madiwala market.

Upon his arrest, police recovered 181 grams of gold biscuits, 333 grams of silver ornaments, and a firearm used for melting stolen gold. Investigations revealed that Swamy often operated alone, targeting locked houses and employing tactics such as immediate clothing changes post-theft to avoid detection. Despite his substantial illicit earnings, he resided in a modest 400 sq ft house registered under his mother’s name, which was under a bank loan default and had been put up for auction.

This arrest has brought to light the extent of Swamy’s criminal operations and his ability to evade law enforcement across multiple states for years. The Bengaluru police are now coordinating with their counterparts in other states to gather more information on his activities and associates. Further investigations are underway to uncover the full scope of his criminal network and to recover additional stolen assets.

Swamy’s case serves as a stark reminder of the challenges law enforcement faces in tracking and apprehending career criminals who operate across state lines, employing sophisticated methods to elude capture. The Bengaluru police’s success in this case underscores the importance of inter-state collaboration and the use of technology in modern policing.

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