An unemployed youth who stole 100 laptops from students was caught by the city police on Thursday.
They found that he sold some 70 of the laptops to one Defence officer.
Shakil Ahmed committed most of his burglaries in MVP Colony and Maddilapalem areas, where many students live in hostels.
Modus operandi
His modus operandi was to sneak in during the wee hours when students doze off leaving the doors open.
These localities had reported a spurt of laptop thefts in the last one-and-a-half years from hostels, public places, and houses.
Police put a team of detectives on the job who tracked down two young men who were separately responsible for over 120 laptop thefts.
One of them was Shakil Ahmed, a Bokaro native who moved to Visakhapatnam for work 18 years ago, and graduated to crime.
The other was Gorle Santhi Kumar, a native of Visakhapatnam, who took to stealing laptops to fund his lifestyle.
Ahmad was picked up near the NAD Junction on Thursday morning by a special team led by Three Town (Crime) Inspector K.S.N. Konda and Sub-Inspector Ratna Rao.
Son of Ghulam Mohammed, Shakil moved to Visakhapatnam with his elder brother to work for a private contractor on the airport renovation project. Later, he moved to purchase and sale of used cars.
Not having a regular source of income, Shakil took to crime about two years ago, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) C.M. Trivikram Varma said.
According to sources, Shakil sold some 60-70 stolen laptops to one single person who works in the Defence sector.
Police are investigating this angle and an arrest of this person is likely shortly, sources said.
Police recovered six laptops, a LED television set, and a car from Shakil.
The police arrested Santhi Kumar for stealing 15 laptops. A 20-year-old who dropped out after the 10th standard, he is said to have taken to crime to fund his vices. The police found six laptops in his possession.
