Bengaluru police have arrested a man accused of carrying out a series of thefts at paying guest hostels in the city’s outer neighbourhoods and recovered mobile phones and laptops worth about ₹10 lakh, according to a report by Prajavani.
The accused, identified as B. Shivaji from Andhra Pradesh, allegedly targeted PG hostels in and around Mandur, Avalahalli, Hoskote and Chikkagubbi, police said. The reported recoveries include electronic devices stolen from the hostels.
According to police, Shivaji entered the paying guest accommodations late at night or in the early hours of the morning. He allegedly entered rooms occupied by information technology and business process services employees and students when the doors had not been fully closed, and took mobile phones and laptops before leaving.
The case came to light after CCTV cameras at a PG hostel captured the accused’s movements during a theft, police said. Investigators used the footage to trace and identify him before making the arrest.
Paying guest accommodation is widely used by students and technology-sector workers in Bengaluru’s peripheral neighbourhoods, where shared housing often brings residents together in buildings with multiple tenants and common access areas. The police account indicates that unsecured room doors and access to hostel premises were central to the reported incidents.
The arrest and recovery were reported by Prajavani, which attributed the details to Avalahalli police. The source report did not provide information about the specific number of hostels or rooms allegedly targeted, the number of devices recovered individually, or the next court proceedings in the case.
