India hotel guest arrested for stealing 120 TVs over four months

A man has been arrested for allegedly stealing more than 120 television sets from budget hotels across southern India over a four-month period.

A senior police officer told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi that hotel staff never suspected Vasudev Nanaiah as he was a "decent and well-behaved" guest.

Mr Nanaiah would check in carrying a "fairly large suitcase", police said.

He had been caught stealing a TV from a hotel in October and was out on bail when arrested again.

Police alleged he went back to stealing within days of leaving prison.

Deputy commissioner of police Chetan Singh Rathor said that if Mr Nanaiah's suitcase was too small, "he would assess the size of the TV set in the room and get a new one".

"He would walk in and out of the hotel on some pretext so many times that the hotel reception would not realise when he had walked out with the TV set never to return,'' Mr Rathor said.

Mr Nanaiah was caught after the man to whom he allegedly tried to sell the television sets informed the police.

Bangalore police have filed 21 cases of theft and are hoping for a longer jail term.

A court will decide whether he requires a psychiatric evaluation.