Gangtok, Sept. 9: Embarrassed at being conned by a 17-year-old, barely weeks after police finally managed to haul him in, law enforcers are pulling out all stops to track down Rakesh Rai, wanted for a string of hotel robberies.

Rai, who tops the police “most wanted” list earned himself the title “expert wall climber”, for his uncanny climbing skills. It was this skill that helped him give his escorts the slip on his way to court on Friday.

The undertrial, on the way to the sessions court on a summon, requested permission to visit the toilet. Locking himself in, he scaled the walls to freedom, leaving clueless escorts waiting for him outside.The teenage criminal celebrated his flight by breaking into a house at Tadong, on the outskirts of the capital, making off with a mobile set, a gold ring, ear-tops and Rs 200.

The looter was also responsible for stealing $1000, 500 Swedish kroners and Rs 15,000 from a Swedish team, which was visiting the capital in July to fix Bofors guns on the Sikkim border.

Rai had also single-handedly pulled off many successful hotel robberies over the last few months.Rai’s arrest came after repeated complaints of theft from hotel owners.

“Plainclothesmen had spent many nights trying to track down the thief,” a senior police official said. “This finally worked when the sleuths of the Sadar thana managed to nab him last month.”

Rai, a resident of Gyalshing, West Sikkim was sent for judicial custody to the Rongyek state jail where he was serving term as an undertrial.

Rai’s arrest helped the police throw light on the plan if action resorted to by the maverick.

Rai had disclosed that he would spend the days watching the activities of his prospective victim before he planned his break ins. “He would climb the walls and pipelines to higher floors and enter hotel rooms through the windows,” police authorities revealed.Officials stressed on Rai’s immediate arrest. “He is a master in his trade, and with time he can only get better,” a senior official confessed. And not without reason.

“Tourists leave their windows open,” Rai had told police during interrogation, “and they leave cash and jewellery on tables, making work a lot easier.”