After 23 thefts, ‘pious’ burglar who targeted only Muslims runs out of luck

This case was quite a coupe for the police department as the accused has successfully evaded arrest till now.

The police had been tracking this accused after carefully studying his modus operandi and caught him when he was on his way to rob a house at Pulianthope, where he was caught red-handed.

The person, who has been arrested has been identified as AB Rahamathullah, (28), a resident of VOC Nagar 3rd Street, Pulianthope. When the police raided his premises they were surprised to see a number of Mel Malayannur Angala Amman pictures on the walls. 

Investigations revealed that the 28-year-old thief would always appear as a pious Muslim in the locality. Rahamathullah always carried a taqiyah (a cap used by Muslims) whenever he set out on a burglary mission and would wear it upon entering the building. 

“He only targeted houses of Muslims and carried out burglaries only on Saturdays and Sundays. His reason was that a majority of the Muslim families went out on Saturday and Sunday evenings and returned only by night. So he carried out the burglaries between 4.30 pm and 7.30 pm,” a police official who is part of the investigation team told DT Next.

Rahamathulla always carried a bag with crowbars, spanners and other tools needed for breaking open locks. He always rode a TVS Jupiter bike, which he would park some distance away from the building he had marked out. “His method was to walk into the targeted building and call out some random names from downstairs, so that people would think him to be someone known to residents living in that particular house. He would then walk up to the house and check the locks, go back to his vehicle and return with his bag,” the police officer added. 

Rahamathulla’s was a quick and no-nonsense approach: he would not spend more than 15 minutes inside the house once he had managed to gain entry. He would collect all the valuables, put them in the bag along with his tools and exit as if nothing had happened. “We have many CCTV footage showing his face. But we could not identify him as he is a new person with no arrest record,” the police official added. 

Police said Rahamathullah visited the Mel Malavannur Angala Amman Koil near Gingee and also offered a small portion of his earnings at the temple. “We studied his modus operandi and confirmed that all the thefts occurred on either Saturday or Sunday. The way the locks were broken was also similar. So we could establish that one person was behind all the thefts. Moreover, we got his visuals from several sites,” the police official added. 

Police said Rahamathulla had been involved in burglaries in Netaji Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Patel Nagar, all under RK Nagar police jurisdiction, Washermenpet and Chintadripet too.