‘Dhoom’-style burglar who targeted only malls held in Anantapur
Police in Anantapur have arrested a serial burglar who targeted shopping malls across three Indian states. The suspect claimed his crimes were inspired by the Bollywood film 'Dhoom' and stated he avoided residential homes to protect families from financial loss.
Why it matters
The case highlights the intersection of pop culture influence and criminal behavior, as well as law enforcement efforts to curb commercial property crime.
The Anantapur police were taken aback when an accused in a series of house burglaries confessed to his crimes, modelled them on the 2004 Bollywood film Dhoom , and mainly targeted shopping malls to avoid inflicting losses on ordinary families. The police caught him on Friday (July 10, 2026) after a detailed investigation into a recent burglary.
Addressing a press conference here, Additional SP Syed Mahaboob Basha said the accused, Nagaraju, from Bengaluru’s CSR Palya, had allegedly carried out mall break-ins across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the past five years.
The police found that he had avoided residential burglaries, as, according to his confession, he did not want to rob people of their hard-earned savings. The Additional SP said Nagaraju concentrated only on commercial establishments, in a manner the police described as resembling the heists in Dhoom .
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