Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Barely a day after solving the Baina dacoity, Goa Police on Wednesday announced a breakthrough in the high-profile St Cruz burglary case with the arrest of 33-year-old Lokesh Suthar, believed to be a habitual housebreaker active across multiple States.
According to police sources, Suthar was traced to Karnataka in a coordinated operation involving the Old Goa Police and the Crime Branch. He is accused of breaking into a residence at Ubo Dando, St Cruz, on November 14 and fleeing with cash and gold valued at around ₹25 lakh. He was detained in Karnataka and brought to Goa on a transit remand before being formally arrested.Investigators say Suthar is linked to more than 25 thefts and break-ins reported in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka. He was presented before the JMFC in Merces and handed over to police custody for 10 days.
The St Cruz incident had unsettled the neighbourhood after a lone intruder slipped into a locked flat in broad daylight and cleared out valuables within half an hour. On the same afternoon, an adjacent apartment was also targeted.
Police, who had remained quiet during the early phase of the investigation, are now examining whether Suthar acted independently or is connected to a larger interstate burglary network.
