Techie turns gadget thief for quick money

VISAKHAPATNAM: An electronics graduate was nabbed by the city police on Friday for stealing electronic gadgets like laptops, mobiles and calculators from Andhra University engineering hostel premises. The police recovered six laptops, two tablet PCs, 12 mobiles and six calculators from the techie-turned-thief.
The accused was identified as Kommoju Naveen Kumar alias Naveen of Chaitanya Nagar in Maddilapalem area of the city.He had completed his BSc in electronics and computers last year and turned to thieving to make easy money.
He had been on a stealing spree since January and used to target engineering hostel rooms and parking lots in the AU campus. Naveen used to sell the stolen gadgets to raise money for his lavish lifestyle and bad habits.
According to deputy commissioner of police P Viswa Prasad, Naveen used to visit one of his friends Tilak, who is pursuing his B Tech second year in AU Engineering College and who lives in the engineering hostel. The police said that while Naveen used to get easy entry into the engineering hostel due to his friendship with Tilak, he would just walk in and pick up gadgets from hostel rooms as most of the inmates never locked their rooms during the day.
Following complaints of the rising thefts from the inmates of the hostel, the Three Town police kept a watch on the movements of suspicious persons in the hostel premises and arrested Naveen on Friday at the hostel premises when he was trying to steal another gadget. The police also recovered the stolen property from several buyers.