Advocate held for stealing books from HC

Hyderabad: An advocate -- who wanted to set up a library to attract clients and meet family expenses -- has been arrested for stealing law books from the court hall of the High Court. The police recovered 144 books from him.The Charminar police on Monday arrested advocate Guttula Ganga Venugopala Krishna on charges of stealing books. The police acted on a compliant made by court attendant S Sanjeevaiah on March 17 stating that some ‘AIR’ manuals and other case files were missing from the Court Hall No 13 of the High Court.

The advanced surveillance measures at the court have made it easy for the police to apprehend the accused.The court attendant stated that after verifying the footage of surveillance cameras, it was noticed that on March 15, one person dressed as an advocate had entered the court hall and stole the books.

Subsequently, a case was booked under the Section 380 of the IPC. The judges and registrar general of the High Court asked the police to take up speedy investigation and arrest the accused.“The police apprehended an advocate Guttula Ganga Venugopala Krishna (49) on charges of stealing books and investigators recovered 144 books that have been stolen from the court halls and libraries,” said South Zone DCP V Satyanarayana.

The DCP said the accused, has been stealing the books for the past one year. The accused advocate had earlier worked as a legal advisor to Sirpur Paper Mill at Kagaznagar and moved to Hyderabad in 2012. He started practising law at the High Court but had very few clients. To meet his family expenses, the accused wanted to establish a library and attract clients,

the DCP said. “One day, about a year ago, he (accused) came early to the High Court and found that only cleaning staff were present. He started with the theft of ‘Motor Accidents Claims and Compensation’ book from the 13th Court. Feeling it easy to steal the books, he has been committing the offence for the past one year. So far he has stolen about 144 books.