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Time of India
7 days ago
- Time of India
Bengaluru techies' homes looted by neighbour: How a 26-year-old pulled off a string of high-value theft
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel In a gated community filled with software professionals and startup founders, few imagined a thief could be living just next door. But residents of GM Infinity in Electronics City Phase 2 were in for a shock when police arrested a 26-year-old man for a series of high-value thefts carried out right under their noses, according to accused, Nitesh Subbu—an unemployed graduate from West Bengal—had been living with his sister in the same Thirupalya apartment complex. Police recovered stolen valuables including 641 grams of gold and 56 grams of silver ornaments, together worth approximately Rs 60.4 lakh, said the TOI who once worked as an assistant at a real estate firm, is believed to have targeted three locked flats within the the night of July 3, the accused broke into the home of 62-year-old professor Suresh Iyer, who is currently based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The house had been locked for months, with Iyer's wife occasionally visiting Bengaluru. She last locked the house on June 21 before returning to Dehradun. However, on June 4, she received a call from a neighbour who informed her that the front door of their second-floor apartment had been broken open. She immediately alerted her nephew, who then filed a complaint with Hebbagodi police on June to the residents, Subbu's sister lived in the block adjacent to Iyer's flat. He forcibly opened the main door, the sliding wardrobe, and a bedroom cupboard, stealing gold and diamond officers, led by Inspector Somashekar G, reviewed CCTV footage and spotted a man in a T-shirt and shorts loitering and appearing to search around various flats. When Subbu was detained for questioning on Monday, he confessed to the had a calculated method for selecting his targets. He would first ring the doorbell of the flat he intended to break into. If someone answered, he'd make up an excuse and walk away. But if there was no response, he'd start looking for a hidden key—checking common spots like shoe racks or flowerpots. Failing to find one, he would then force open the door using an iron the night of June 22, Subbu pulled off similar thefts in two other flats. Police later recovered stolen valuables that included 621 grams of gold, 15.8 grams of diamonds, 4.3 grams of platinum, 56 grams of silver, and Rs 28,000 in cash.
Indian Express
09-07-2025
- Indian Express
Man living in Bengaluru high rise held for stealing valuables worth Rs 60 lakh from flats
A 26-year-old unemployed graduate has been arrested for allegedly stealing valuables from a high-rise apartment in Bengaluru, where he lived with his sister, the police said Tuesday. Seemant Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bengaluru police, announced the arrest of Nitesh Subbu, who lives in GM Infinite E City Town, Electronics City, Phase 2. Singh said they have seized 15.79 gram of diamond jewellery, 621 gram of gold ornaments, 56.2 gram of silver, and Rs 28,000 cash from him. The value of the recovered items stood at Rs 60.46 lakh, he added. The police said the theft came to light after a resident discovered that the front door of one of the flats was broken. They said the flat belonged to Suresh Iyer, a 62-year-old academic working in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The professor's house had been locked for several days, as he and his wife visited Bengaluru occasionally. On June 4, Iyer's wife received a call from a neighbour reporting that their front door had been broken. She immediately contacted her nephew, who rushed to the apartment to assess the damage, and check if any valuables were missing. The nephew filed a complaint with the Hebbagodi police on June 5. A police officer said the suspect, Subbu, whose sister lived in the adjacent block, had carefully observed the professor's routine when he visited Bengaluru. The officer said the proximity of his sister's residence also provided him with knowledge of the building's layout and the residents' schedules. While reviewing the apartment complex's CCTV footage, they saw a man in a T-shirt and shorts searching suspiciously around various flats. He was later identified as Subbu. The police said their investigations showed Subbu's calculated approach to selecting targets. He would begin by ringing the doorbells of apartments he intended to target. If someone answered, he would make an excuse and leave, but if there was no response, he would search for the keys in common hiding spots, such as shoe racks or flowerpots. When keys weren't available, he would force entry using an iron rod. The police said that after he was detained Monday, Subbu confessed to the theft. They added that they also found that he was involved in two more thefts that had taken place in the apartment on June 22.
Time of India
09-07-2025
- Time of India
A thief in apartment: Jobless graduate steals valuables worth Rs 60.4L from locked flats in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: In an apartment complex bustling with software professionals and startup entrepreneurs, no one expected a thief to be living right next door. But residents of GM Infinity in Electronics City Phase 2 were left stunned when police arrested a 26-year-old man for pulling off a string of high-value thefts right under their noses. The accused is Nitesh Subbu, an unemployed graduate from West Bengal, who had been staying with his sister in the same apartment at Thirupalya. Police recovered around 641 grams of gold and 56 grams of silver ornaments, altogether worth Rs 60.4 lakh. Subbu, who previously worked as an assistant in a real estate firm, targeted three locked flats in the apartment. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru On the night of July 3, he broke into the house of professor Suresh Iyer, 62, who works at Dehradun in Uttarakhand. Suresh's nephew filed a complaint with Hebbagodi police on June 5. Since her uncle had been working in Dehradun for the last four months, the house was locked, and his wife used to come to Bengaluru once in a few days. She locked the house on June 21 and went back to Dehradun. On June 4, Suresh's wife received a call from a neighbour, who informed her that the front door of their house on the second floor was broken. She asked her nephew to rush to the house and check for valuables. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like An engineer reveals: One simple trick to get internet without a subscription Techno Mag Learn More Undo Subbu's sister stays in the adjacent block of Suresh's. He broke open the main door, the wardrobe slide door, and the cupboard in the bedroom to steal gold and diamond ornaments. Police inspector Somashekar G and his team verified the CCTV camera footage and found a man wearing a T-shirt and shorts searching for something in front of a few flats. When detained for interrogation on Monday, Subbu confessed to the crime. Ring the bell and then search for key Subbu would ring the doorbell of the flat he is planning to target. If someone opens the door, he would give some excuses and leave. If there is no response, he would search for the key in the shoe rack or flowerpots. If he doesn't find the key, he breaks open the door using an iron rod. Subbu committed similar thefts in two houses on the night of June 22. Police recovered the booty, including 621 grams of gold, 15.8 grams of diamond, 4.3 grams of platinum, 56 grams of silver, and Rs 28,000. Second story Deep in debt, BCA graduate burgles houses & snatches gold A 27-year-old computer science graduate was arrested on charges of snatching a gold chain from a woman inside a crowded temple in the city. Police said Murthy KT of Hongasandra had burgled three houses in different parts of the city a few months ago. In his confession statement to police, Murthy said he lost more than Rs 20 lakh in online cricket betting and, hence, decided to break into locked houses. A native of Shivamogga, Murthy worked in a software company in Electronics City before quitting the job this year, police said. "On the evening of March 16 this year, a woman standing inside a temple near Binny Pet found that her gold chain weighing around 50 grams was stolen. Based on her complaint, we traced Murthy and recovered the chain. He stole valuables worth over Rs 15 lakh from three houses in Konanakunte, Avalahalli, and Suddaguntepalya in the first half of this year. He pledged the stolen gold ornaments to repay the loans taken to invest in online cricket betting," an officer said. Police said Murthy's father Annappa is said to have disposed of his property in Shivamogga to repay some of the loans made by him.
Mint
07-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Ad agencies want to do it all. But the ultimate loser is the brand
Mumbai: In Indian advertising today, there's one common pitch: We do it Media. Martech. Influencers. AI. Commerce. If there's a funnel, every agency wants to own it, end-to-end. But here's the problem: the more agencies chase dashboards and data layers, the more indistinguishable they become. And amid this convergence chaos, the oldest question in the business is being ignored: Who's thinking about the brand? 'Everyone wants to solve the full funnel, but the real moat is still in brand thinking," said Paritosh Srivastava, chief executive officer (CEO) of Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH India and Saatchi Propagate. 'Creative shops are now offering media, media agencies are hiring content teams, and consultants are peddling brand strategy. But if everyone does everything, who's standing for something?" Srivastava adds that while Publicis Groupe's Power of One model helps agencies deliver integrated solutions, the danger lies in sameness. 'At some point, clients will ask what your real superpower is. You have to be famous for something." Dheeraj Sinha, group CEO, FCB India and South Asia, 'It's no longer about just being a service provider. We're now in the business of business outcomes." Under his leadership, FCB has merged its creative, digital, and performance units into a single platform, building AI-driven content and full-funnel services. 'But amidst all this, our job remains to keep brands culturally rooted. That can't be captured by CTRs (click-through rates) alone." Sinha is also quick to point out the value of integration, when done right. 'The creative idea is still the nucleus. If media and performance are not orbiting that, we risk becoming mechanical executors rather than cultural creators." S. Subramanyeswar (Subbu), group CEO-India and chief strategy officer-APAC at MullenLowe Group, is taking a different tack: creating proprietary knowledge products like 'State of States' and pushing for what he calls "ecosystemised thinking". 'Too many agencies today speak in acronyms and tools, but where is the soul?" he asked. 'We're not just glueing services together. We're productizing ideas. And at the heart of it is cultural intelligence. Without that, you're just delivering media, not meaning." That cultural intelligence, Subbu said, is becoming a rare commodity in a hyper-programmatic world. 'Even clients are asking: Who's bringing me that human lens?" Marketers aren't blind to the shift. But they're also worried that creative ambition is being replaced by templatised efficiency. 'We deliberately pivoted from a functional, product-first pitch to emotional storytelling," said Ravi Chawla, managing director and CEO of Gulf Oil Lubricants India, in a recent interaction. 'Whether it's through cricket, retail or digital, the aim was to build resonance, not just impressions. The agencies that got us there understood grassroots insight, not just full-funnel fluency." For Inderpreet Singh, head-marketing at Birla Opus Paints, this tension is sharper. The brand is a late entrant in a commoditised category, and its IPL investment needed to punch above weight. 'We constantly debate ROI (return on investment) versus memorability. If your agency only talks numbers, they're missing the point. Our mandate is to create memory structures. That comes from insight and consistency, not algorithmic success." He added, 'We want to be a brand people remember, not just one they saw during a sale. That takes more than reach. It takes relevance." That push and pull is being felt on platforms, too. Sana Shaikh, director at Flipkart Ads, sees both sides. 'The line between brand and performance is vanishing. Today, creative storytelling has to happen inside a cart, inside a scroll, inside a second," she said. 'We're giving agencies and brands tools to build relevance at speed. But that also means traditional agencies need to unlearn a lot." But even as platforms reshape the playing field, some argue the bigger threat comes from inside the agencies themselves. 'There's a creative stagnation setting in," one independent agency founder said, speaking anonymously. 'You see the same templates, the same performance playbooks, the same KPIs (key performance indicators). If every agency looks like the other, where's the edge?" Some clients are starting to notice. A senior marketer at a consumer tech firm added, 'We're pushing our agencies to stop being reactive. Everyone's optimising. No one's imagining. It's hurting differentiation." Legacy agencies are trying. But the real challenge may not be transformation, but restraint. Not chasing every revenue stream, but knowing what to protect. 'The market is moving towards efficiency, but let's not forget the irrational power of stories," said Shubhranshu Singh, chief marketing officer (CMO) of Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles and a board member of the Effie Lions Foundation. 'You can measure short-term impact. But long-term brand value? That takes trust, culture and belief." Dheeraj Sinha puts it bluntly: 'If you're not building long-term IP (intellectual property), you're just renting attention." India may have had a big year at Cannes Lions 2025, with 32 awards and culturally sharp campaigns. But ask agency leaders and CMOs alike, and the unease is clear: creativity is at risk of being crowded out by commerce.
Mint
09-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Why MullenLowe Group is dismantling the full-service agency model
MUMBAI: As the advertising industry navigates the challenges of project-based billing, the rise of in-house creative teams, and tightening profit margins, MullenLowe Lintas Group India is undergoing a significant transformation. The 86-year-old agency, led by group chief executive officer (CEO) S. Subramanyeswar (Subbu), is moving away from its traditional full-service model to embrace an 'ecosystemized" approach. 'This isn't a business of one-agency-does-it-all anymore," Subbu tells Mint. 'The future is about win-win partnerships where everyone is a participant—and a beneficiary." Rather than trying to own every function across media, data, content and tech, the company now focuses on orchestrating outcomes through strategic collaboration. Recent partnerships with firms like Quantum (for cultural research) and Meta (for digital scaling) have already helped shape new client engagements and knowledge products, he said. Also read: Advertising sentiment remains subdued during festive quarter The agency as an ecosystem builder Subbu's thesis is simple: advertising agencies can't win by competing in silos. 'The old idea that agencies must control everything, from ideation to execution, is outdated," he says. 'Clients today deal with specialized partners across tech, data, influencer and commerce. Agencies need to bring these together." He's visualized the agency as a nucleus, surrounded by market makers, media, data, creators, tech platforms, social organizations and academic institutions. 'Think of it as a connected operating system, not a vendor list," he says. This model allows Lintas to lead with insights, not only campaigns. Case in point: its long-term partnership with Quantum to launch 'State of States'—a deep cultural mapping of 22 Indian states, now used to develop hyperlocal campaigns across categories. From campaigns to 'products' This shift also signals a change in mindset from campaign delivery to knowledge productization. 'Each state's cultural profile is a product," Subbu says. 'We offer it to any brand, even if they don't work with us." A second knowledge asset, 'State of Weddings', is set to launch soon. Subbu calls this approach PaaS or product-as-a-service, borrowing the term from software startups. 'Agencies must stop thinking of deliverables as creative outputs and start treating knowledge as IP (intellectual property)," he says. Restructuring from within Internally, MullenLowe Lintas has undergone a dramatic reorganization. The traditional account–planning–creative structure has been replaced with a 60:20:20 model: 60% creative talent, 20% strategic planning and 20% business generation. Also read: Havmor sees strong summer demand but input cost a challenge 'The number of content assets required today has exploded," Subbu says. 'You can't run an agency on the same headcount logic from a decade ago. Creative must scale and stay sharp." Account management is no longer about just relaying briefs. 'They're now responsible for generating growth, not just coordination," he says. Planning and creative interact directly with clients. With agencies struggling to attract young talent, Subbu is betting on internal learning. 'We spent $1,000 per head to train 400 people in 2024—across creative, planning, and business," he says. His pitch to potential hires: 'You may not stay for 20 years, but even five years here should feel like a legacy." Old school relationships, new school work Despite the transformation, Subbu insists that long-term brand building remains the agency's core strength. 'We're proud of the brands we've helped grow over the decades—Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely, Tanishq, Tata Tea, Surf Excel. That legacy doesn't go away," he says. But he's also clear-eyed about where the market is headed. In the first quarter of this year, MullenLowe Lintas secured ₹25 crore in new business, with 43% of it coming from projects rather than annual retainers. 'Clients will still have a lead agency," Subbu says, 'but they want the freedom to bring in specialists. That's reality. The soul of the brand must stay consistent, but different expressions are okay." No to acquisitions, yes to partnerships While many holding groups are consolidating via M&A, Subbu says he prefers working partnerships over outright acquisitions. 'We've had conversations around co-investing to create new value, but buying companies is not the goal," he says. He's open to sharing credit, control and even commercial upside. 'If a six-month-old startup has sharper tech or insight, I'll give them the bigger role. Ego shouldn't get in the way of results." What's next? The agency's knowledge products may soon evolve into digital tools or even a custom LLM (Large Language Model), Subbu says. 'That's phase two. These products will power localization at scale." Also read: From milk delivery to FMCG - Chitale Bandhu now seeks to make a mark with snacks The vision is grounded in a belief that branding is more than marketing—it's cultural storytelling. 'Brands aren't just part of marketing plans—they're part of culture," he says. 'And to stay relevant, they must reflect the cultural codes of their consumers." Or, as he puts it, 'You're not building a brand. You're building a relationship. That's something no algorithm can replace."
