A man said to be involved in 38 break-ins was arrested by the Visakhapatnam city police here on Friday. Stolen property worth ₹ 40 lakh was recovered from his possession.

Police identified the accused as Dunna Krishna (47), a native of Meliaputti mandal in Srikakulam district who had taken up residence in Bobbili of Vizianagaram district. Krishna reportedly committed the burglaries over the past 11 months not only in Vizag city but also in Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and Rajamahendravaram.

Six others were arrested for helping Krishna commit the crimes and dispose of the stolen property. Police recovered ₹1.88 lakh in cash, 1,135 grams of gold, 5.17 kg of silver, a TV, two premium watches, and a two-wheeler from Krishna’s possession.

Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha said 25 burglaries were committed under MVP Police Station (PS) limits alone, while six were committed under Dwaraka PS limits, two under IV Town limits, and one each under III Town PS and Airport PS limits. Apart from Vizag city, cases were registered in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Rajamahendravaram.

Krishna reportedly embarked on his journey of crime from 1993, and was allegedly involved in over 200 offences before being arrested and convicted in over 100 cases. He was sent to the Rajahmundry Central Jail and was let out in 2017 after completion of his sentence.

However, he took to crime again, Mr Laddha said.

 Krishna can climb a four-storeyed building without a rope and can open windows with a coin,  said former Dwaraka PS Inspector Ch Shanmukha Rao.

Painstaking probe

Thirty-three policemen including CIs, SIs, and constables from Crime and Central Crime Station departments worked for over three months to arrest Krishna.

Three teams — a Technical, Field-Level and a Catching team — were led by Police Commissioner Laddha to arrest the accused.

Sources said the Technical team kept tabs on Krishna via social media to zero in on his location. The field-Level team gathered information while the catching team shuttled between Tirupati, Kolkata, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam to arrest him.

 Highly intelligent

 Krishna was hard to catch as he is highly intelligent. He does not own a mobile phone and maintains a low profile. He has few friends and kept changing his location on a regular basis to keep the police on their toes,  said a senior officer.