City Police Commissioner P Vijayan said the images of the thief captured in the surveillance camera at the house are similar to those of Bunty, who has been allegedly involved in 500-odd theft and carjacking cases in various parts of the country. “It is sure that the person whose image was captured in the camera was the thief we are looking for. The thief had stolen the car, mobile phones and laptops together worth Rs 30 lakh,” said Vijayan.

The manager of a hotel, where Bunty stayed for a few days before the theft, has identified him from the images caught by the surveillance camera. He had checked into the hotel as Devinder Singh and had submitted his driving licence bearing his photograph.

The thief entered the house of NRI Venugopalan Nair, who was staying along with family members, early on Monday.

Braving the security system including remote-controlled gate, alarms and surveillance cameras, he entered the house after removing the bullet-proof glass in front of the house.

That the glass was fixed on wooden panel and the window did not have grills made the job easy for the burglar.

He managed to get the bunch of keys, which included those of the car and the gate, and decamped with the vehicle, two expensive cellphones and a laptop.

The stolen car has GPS system. Another car, supposed to be used by the thief, was found abandoned in the city.