How addiction to gaming turned a brilliant Hyderabad techie into a serial burglar wanted in nearly 80-plus cases

A Hyderabad-based techie named L Srinivas has been arrested for allegedly committing more than 86 burglaries. Bengaluru police cited his addiction to online gaming as a contributing factor to these alleged crimes. Srinivas, 39, is a debt-ridden mechanical engineer who turned to crime to make quick money by breaking into locked houses in Hyderabad and stealing valuables, police said to TOI. Police even claimed to have recovered stolen goods worth around Rs 9 lakh from him after arresting him and solving three burglary cases reported last month in Bengaluru. Despite being described as a brilliant student and a hardworking professional, Srinivas reportedly lost money in online gaming, including gambling, police told TOI.

Srinivas, who is also a divorcee, lives alone in a paying‑guest accommodation and stays away from most of his family, the police noted. His elder brother works as a tech professional in the US and his mother lives in Hyderabad. He had worked in various software companies in Hyderabad for short periods and is also known as Kammepalli Srinivas , as he is originally from the Kamepalli village in Andhra Pradesh.


What Bengaluru police said about the techie who has been alleged of burglary

"The beginning of his professional life was good. But everything changed when he became an online gaming addict. He lost everything," police said to TOI.

Police say Srinivas faces 86 criminal charges in Hyderabad alone, primarily for burglary, followed by cybercrime and IT‑related fraud, where he allegedly lured victims with fake job offers to steal their money.

Last month, Srinivas stole valuables from three locked houses in and around Bengaluru’s Kodigehalli area, after which he was arrested and taken into custody, police added.