Udupi: Police have arrested an interstate burglar in connection with a daytime house break-in in Byndoor and recovered stolen gold that was melted and hidden in Tamil Nadu. The accused is Umesh Balegar alias Umesh P alias Umesh Reddy, an interstate habitual offender, from Kaup.The burglary occurred on March 5, at the residence of Gurukiran Patwal in Paduvari village along the Byndoor-Someshwara road. Taking advantage of the house being unoccupied, the accused broke open the door and stole gold ornaments and cash kept in a cupboard. A case was registered at Byndoor police station under sections 331(3) and 305 of the BNS. The investigation was led by circle inspector Shivakumar B, who formed a special team comprising PSIs and staff to trace the accused. On April 21, the team arrested the accused. During interrogation, the accused revealed that he melted the stolen gold ornaments into ingot and concealed them in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with the intention of selling them. Acting on this information, the police team travelled to Madurai and recovered about 22g of gold, valued at approximately Rs 2.8 lakh, from his possession. Police said Umesh Balegar is a habitual interstate offender with as many as 36 cases registered against him across Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He has been convicted in eight cases, while 23 cases are still pending trial in various courts across districts including Beltangady, Bantwal, Moodubidire, Subrahmanya, Puttur, Koppa, Thirthahalli, Sirsi, Basavanahalli (Chikkamagaluru), Hiriyur (Chitradurga), Sringeri, Kumta, Malpe and Kaup. The operation was carried out under the guidance of Kundapur sub-division DySP HD Kulkarni
