Wanted in 80 cases, Hyderabad serial burglar, escaped jail, stole from colleges, shot a cop: Crime sheet of Bathula Prabhakar

HYDERABAD: Bathula Prabhakar, the serial burglar who opened fire at a head constable outside a popular pub on Saturday night, had a third country-made weapon hidden at his rented room in Gowlidoddi, along with a staggering 451 live rounds. Cyberabad police investigating the case unearthed this stash while searching his room that Prabhakar shared with an IT professional employed with a prominent MNC in Hyderabad.

The latter has also been detained for questioning, to know if he was aware of Prabhakar's criminal activities.
Around 7.30 pm on Saturday, head constable of the Central Crime Station, Venkatram Reddy, was injured in his left foot when Prabhakar opened fire at him in the parking lot of Prism pub in Gachibowli. The incident took place when the cops, after nabbing the accused from inside the pub, was shifting him into a police vehicle. Prabhakar is wanted in multiple burglaries reported from educational institutions in Moinabad in recent times.
On Saturday, police had recovered two country-made weapons from the accused after overpowering him and taking him into custody. Later, they conducted searches in his room in Gowlidoddi.
In his confession to the police, Prabhakar claimed that he bought the three weapons and the live rounds with the help of a friend from Bihar. He personally travelled there eight months ago to collect the weapons.
"The accused claimed the weapons were bought to take revenge against a prisoner who stayed with him when he was in the Visakhapatnam central prison in 2022. His co-prisoner allegedly troubled him during his stay there. This led him to conspire against him to seek revenge," said a source associated with the investigation. However, the police are still verifying the veracity of his statement.
In March 2022, Prabhakar had escaped from judicial remand. Until Saturday, he was on the run.
Apart from the arms and ammunition, cops also found that the accused was using phones that had SIM cards registered in the name of two women. "The aim of the accused was to lead a lavish life, and for that, he kept committing burglaries mainly targeting educational institutes, particularly engineering colleges," the police said.
Cops said that Prabhakar belongs to Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh and has been committing house burglaries since 2013.
"He was previously arrested seven times. In September 2020, he was arrested by PM Palem police of Visakhapatnam as he was involved in 57 offences, but managed to escape in 2022. The accused has so far been involved in 80 cases," said G Vineeth, deputy commissioner of police (Madhapur zone) on Sunday.
Under the pretext of paying for his relative, the accused used to enter colleges and conduct recce. Later, at night, he would commit the offence using various tools like iron cutters, screwdrivers, and hand gloves.