Police probe hi-tech burglars who used Google Maps to target houses

The inter-state burglary suspects – Sathish Reddy aka Satti and his associate Narendra Nayak from Telangana – were arrested, said the sources in city police. They were involved in three burglary cases reported in Nungambakkam, Teynampet and Mambalam while there are more than 60 cases pending against them in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka andTelangana.

The city police came to know about the high-profile suspects after the Telangana police arrested the gang. On Thursday, they made Satti to re-enact the burglary that was executed at a doctor’s house in Nungambakkam.

Police said that the suspect used to locate posh areas in the cities with the help of Google Maps and monitored the houses in the particular neighbourhood by roaming around in autorickshaws before deciding the probable target. While he struck the residences of doctors in Nungambakkam and Mambalam, it was the house of a retired government official in Teynampet.

The police have remanded Sathya in connection with the Nungambakkam case and Narendra Nayak was cited as a co-accused in the burglary reported in Mambalam.

Police officers, who are investigating the case, noted that they had executed the loot when the inmates were present in the house in two cases. “He is specialist in removing glass panel and doors. He carries minimum tools like a screw driver, torch light, spanner and masks,” the police said. In the three burglaries, the duo made away with valuables worth Rs 1 crore, including diamonds. Police have recovered over 135 sovereigns of gold from them.