From network diploma to serial thefts: How Bengaluru cops tracked inter-state offender | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Jigani police have arrested a 30-year-old habitual offender whose criminal trail cuts across three southern states and spans nearly every major category of property crime.Shivakumar alias Dadiya Shivakumar, is suspected to be involved in around 28 cases, ranging from chain snatching and house break-ins to two-wheeler thefts, robbery and even murder.Police said Shivakumar operated without a fixed pattern, committing crimes opportunistically and targeting whatever or whoever appeared vulnerable at the moment. His arrest history stretches across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, making him a familiar name in police records but an elusive figure on the ground.During the latest operation, police recovered stolen property worth more than Rs 21 lakh, including gold ornaments and three two-wheelers. Thirteen cases were detected during the investigation, including two house break-ins at Jigani and two two-wheeler thefts within Bengaluru city limits. Officials said warrants are pending against him in more than 10 cases in Karnataka alone.What sets Shivakumar apart from many other repeat offenders, investigators say, is his educational background. He holds a diploma in network administration from a private institute at Shivajinagar. Police believe he used his technical knowledge to stay a step ahead of the law enforcement, particularly by avoiding conventional phone calls and minimising digital traces.The arrest followed a focused investigation into the theft of a Yamaha R15 motorcycle from outside a house at Jigani around midnight on Sept 28. Inspector BS Manjunath and his team mapped CCTV footage from the area. The trail did not stop at Bengaluru’s outskirts. Cameras along routes leading through Rayakottai, Uddanapalli and Kelamangalam in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district provided crucial leads. With assistance from informants, police eventually traced Shivakumar to Kelamangalam, where he was taken into custody.Insta calls to evade policeInvestigators say the accused deliberately avoided staying at his family home at Kumaraswamy Layout, anticipating police surveillance. Instead, he frequently moved between friends’ houses in Tamil Nadu, using Bengaluru only as a brief stopover.According to police, Shivakumar visited his family home only for a few minutes at a time, primarily to hand over stolen valuables for disposal. To avoid being tracked through call detail records, he relied almost entirely on Instagram to communicate with family members.The precautions extended beyond digital communication. Police reveal that whenever Shivakumar planned a visit home, his elder sister and her daughter would station themselves on two roads leading to the house. Their role was to watch for unfamiliar faces or police movement in the neighbourhood. Alerts were relayed to him via Instagram calls, and only after receiving confirmation that the area was clear would he enter the house.“These visits were brief and calculated,” an officer said. “He would come in, hand over the stolen property, and leave immediately.”Police believe the combination of frequent interstate movement, limited physical presence at known addresses and reliance on social media calls helped Shivakumar evade arrest for years, despite the volume of cases against him.With his arrest, Jigani police say they have not only solved a string of recent thefts but also reopened a wider network of cases pending across multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to trace the disposal channels for stolen valuables and to examine the involvement of others who may have aided his movements.
