The son of a J&K Police officer has been detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on the charges of being a hardcore thief after he was found involved in more than 20 burglaries.

Police on Sunday identified him as Mohammad Irshad alias “Shadu” of Teli Basti Bari Brahmana. His detention order was issued by District Magistrate, Samba, Abhishek Sharma based on a dossier prepared by Senior Superintendent of Police Benam Tosh.

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Shadu, son of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police, was involved in as many as 20 thefts and burglaries in Bari Brahmana, Vijaypur, Ramgarh, Samba, Purmandal, Bahu Fort (Jammu), Nagrota (Jammu), Channi Himat (Jammu), Gangyal (Jammu) and Katra in Reasi district. He was a habitual thief and his activities were prejudicial to the maintenance of public order and peace, police said.

He had been functioning as a self-styled commander of thieves and several others operated at his instance, the police added.

Immediately after receiving the detention order, SHO, Samba Police Station, Daljit Singh detained the hardcore thief and lodged him in District Jail Kathua.

Shadu is the second hardcore thief to be detained and lodged in a jail by the Samba Police under the stringent PSA within a period of just three months. Much to the relief of people, the Samba Police detained top commander of thieves in the Jammu division, Mehboob Ahmed, earlier and lodged him in the Kathua jail. His arrest led to a considerable decline in incidents of theft.

The Samba Police has arrested a record number of 190 thieves in the last one year.