Police solve housebreak case within 24 hours; arrest ex-offender

The city police (Crime Wing) cracked a property offence within 24 hours of receiving the complaint and arrested a notorious offender named Mallareddy Venkatesh (34), a resident of Sundarayya Colony, Gajuwaka, on Friday.

The police recovered 270 grams of gold, 250 grams of silver, and two motorcycles from the accused.

According to police reports, the housebreak-in took place at the residence of a 65-year-old retired general manager of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) in Kurmannapalem. The elderly man had left for a spiritual trip with his family on February 15 and returned home on February 24, only to find that unidentified miscreants had broken the locks and stolen around 300 grams of gold and 250 grams of silver ornaments.

Following the complaint, Inspector of Crimes (South Sub-Division) K. Srinivasa Rao formed special teams under the supervision of Commissioner of Police Shankabratha Bagchi. Using technical analysis, the teams tracked down and caught the accused at Aganampudi on February 26 night.

Inspector K. Srinivasa Rao stated that Venkatesh is a habitual offender with more than 40 cases registered against him and has a suspect sheet at Gajuwaka police station. He was previously arrested in a property offence case in 2024 and later released on bail on February 17, 2026. Soon after his release, he committed the offence again, he said, adding that the motive behind the crime was to make easy money.