Hyderabad: A self-proclaimed admirer of Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty, targeting only houses from the old city, starting his hunt after the old city went to sleep at 3 AM, taking advantage of rooftop ventilation of old city houses—this is the profile of a notorious burglar Mohammed Saleem who is involved in more than 100 cases of house burglaries. And has been committing offences since 1991.

The Bandlaguda police finally arrested Saleem, 52, linking him to two recent house burglaries and recovering 35 grams of stolen gold ornaments on Tuesday.

Revealing the details of the accused Mohammed Saleem alias Sunil Shetty, police said he was born and brought up in Kummarawadi, Fathedarwaja area of Hyderabad city. He is a notorious house burglar. He is known among police circles by name as “Sunil Shetty." A diehard fan of Bollywood hero Sunil Shetty, he often visited his house in Bandra, Mumbai, but has failed to meet him at least once to date.

He was released from jail in May 2025 and went on a spree of committing house burglaries during the nights and was reportedly involved in two such offences in Hyderabad.

Modus Operandi

His method was as consistent as it was brazen-all following the same pattern-exploiting the Old City’s densely packed, rooftop-accessible homes. Generally, he selects houses of middle-class and below middle-class people from the Muslim community in the old city area to commit offences. Prowling the labyrinthine lanes of Hyderabad’s Old City under the cloak of night. He commits offences after 4 A.M., as people in the old city will generally be awake till 3 A.M. Till that time, he cleverly passes time at his house by playing “LUDO” and “CRICKET” games on his mobile phone. He carries with him a small torchlight and a cutting player. Roams around the colonies, and identifies locked houses.

“He scales over the “chejja” of the house and reaches the rooftop. Taking advantage of the open roof for ventilation in old city houses, he enters such houses without disturbing or breaking the main door (lock).  For the police patrol teams, the house appears to be intact from outside. After entering the house, he breaks open the lock and almirah with whatever items, including spoons, are available in the house," said A. Sudhakar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chandryangutta.

Criminal History

When he was 18 years old, he was arrested for the first time by Chaderghat Police in a theft case of brass utensils. When he was in Musheerabad jail, he befriended notorious house burglars and learned the technique of breaking the locks. Since then, he has become a professional and continued the commission of the offences, said Police.

According to the police officials, with the stolen property, he leads a lavish life and goes on a tour to Mumbai, Ajmer and other such tourist places. At tourist places, he enjoyed sightseeing on tourism helicopters. His area of operation is limited to Hyderabad old city, where the majority of the population is of Muslim community.

He generally operates under the police station limits of Chandrayangutta, Falaknuma, Kalapather, Kamatipura, Hussainialam, Kanchanbagh, Santhoshnagar, Balapur, Pahadi Sharief and Mailardevpally, Bandlaguda, as he has a fair knowledge about the topography of the area. The arrested accused is being produced before the court for judicial remand, added police in their statement.