JAIPUR: A 26-year-old thief arrested by the Jawahar Circle on Monday is well-versed in law to argue his cases in courts to avoid paying for lawyers, a city police officer claimed.
Salim Sheikh, a native of the Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested by Jaipur police on Monday evening.
“He represented himself before the court in several cases.
He is a habitual offender and had been involved in several criminal cases,” Jawahar Circle SHO Nemi Chand said.
Sheikh was arrested along with three of his close aides identified as Milan Khan, Suraj Joshi, alias Badshah, and Gulshan, alias Gullu.
Police said the accused was a skilled thief and had learnt the art of breaking into houses from his relatives.
“His entire family including his parents have criminal records.
We have found his other relatives were also involved in criminal acts,” an official involved in the investigation told TOI, adding that one of the accused relatives had advised Shiekh that as per law, he could represent himself in the court.
“He is very skilled at theft and burglaries.
He has about a dozen cases of burglary and theft filed against him.
He could decamp with anything from a random LPG cylinder to a laptop or LED TV,” the official informed TOI.
“Apart from learning the art of arguing in the court, he also knows how much to speak during interrogation.
Whenever we asked him about previous criminal antecedents, his response was always measured, never revealing anything.
He is a tough nut to crack because he understands a little bit of law,” another official claimed, adding that the accused had started out in the world of crime very early on.