Bureau puller strikes again in Mylapore

The house owner, Jambu Devi (65) was fast asleep in her ground floor apartment when the burglar took his sweet time to pull the bureau to the window and looted the valuables.

Earlier, the burglar had sent the entire city police force to shadow hunting for almost two years during 2005 and 2006, where the city witnessed several cases of mysterious bureau pulling, where the accused hardly left any evidence for the policemen to pursue the case. 

Automatically the doubt over the theft fell on Nagamani, the notorious bureau puller, who was twice arrested by the city police and was involved in more than 100 similar cases. 

“It is a modus operandi invented and perfected by Nagamani. However, now many have learnt the technique and are doing it. Nagamani is in Puzhal prison and he is detained under the Goondas Act,” a senior police official told DTNext.

In 2005-2006 there were more than 100 cases of bureau pulling remained unsolved. In the Madipakkam range alone, there were 61 such unresolved cases in 2005.

It became so difficult for the police to handle, with the ever elusive burglar. Then city commissioner of police R Natraj had gone to the extent of declaring a reward of Rs 1 lakh to the team that nabs the bureau puller. Nagamani was arrested at the end of 2006 for the first time and he was caught once again in 2015 when he tried his luck with the same method again in Nanganallur. 

“The bureau pullers usually fix their target by checking out homes during the day time. They only attempt in houses where bureaus are kept closer to the window. They are more keen to target houses where elderly people live,” the official added. 

The bureau pullers use an iron hook with long handle to pull the bureau. Usually this hook was made by bending the edge of a long iron rod. They then pull the bottom and top of the bureau slowly till it reaches within access near the window. The burglar then breaks open the bureau lock and loot the valuables. It takes more than one hour for them to carry out the burglary, police officials said. Police said they find it difficult to pick up evidence in bureau pulling cases as the burglar never enters the house.

Mylapore police have registered a case and investigations were on. With the known culprit inside the prison, the police have been feeling the pressure as they believe this could be another master bureau puller who was going to give them a major headache in the coming days.