'Bunty chor' suspected behind burglary in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Delhi-based burglar Devinder Singh alias "Bunty chor" is suspected to be behind the hi-tech burglary at the residence of an NRI businessman in the city.

The thief drove off in a luxury car parked in the house after entering the premises breaking its hi-tech security systems like surveillance and intruder warning alarm.

The house of K V G Nair, an NRI residing in the city, was burgled in the wee hours on Monday. The thief entered the house breaching the hi-tech security systems such as surveillance cameras, intruder warning alarms and bullet-proof windows.

The police team investigating the case on Tuesday claimed they had strong reasons to believe the burglary was committed by Devinder as the images of the thief caught in the hidden camera installed at the house bore striking resemblance to that of the upcountry criminal.

The suspicion has been corroborated by the modus operandi of the burglar and other circumstantial evidences, police sources here said.

Devinder is allegedly involved in scores of burglaries across the country and targets affluent homes and drives off in luxury cars once he set his eyes on them, sources said.

"The mode of operation showed that the thief is an adept in handling hi-tech security systems and devices. It appeared that he had operated on his own," police sources said.

Kerala police are in touch with their counterparts in other states, including Delhi and neighbouring states, as the burglar could have crossed state borders in the car he stole.

Who is Bunty Chor?

A compulsive thief, Devinder Singh aka Bunty's exploits border on the audacious usually. The super thief is a class nine dropout and he began his life of notoriety in 1993 when he was arrested in New Delhi but gave police the slip.

Bunty is reported to have committed over 500 burglaries with impunity across the country. From Delhi to Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai, almost all the big cities have been privy to his silken craft. He is a master escape artist, giving the police the slip in Delhi, Chennai and Chandigarh after being captured.

The one thing that helped Bunty pull off his audacious robberies was how he tamed dogs, ensuring they hardly came in the way of him pulling one daring theft after other. While Bunty was not very picky about what he stole, he did have a weakness for fancy cars and luxury watches.

He was known to be a compulsive womaniser.

Dibakar Benerjee's movie Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye starring Abhay Deol was reportedly based on his life. In the fourth season of reality TV show Bigg Boss Bunty was one of the contestants.

Oye Lucky plot

Bunty Chor, the thief par excellence, has given the police the slip quite a few times. But in 2008 he was finally captured for real on reel.

Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye directed by Dibakar Banerjee is a black comedy. The lead character in the film goes by the name of Lucky Singh, a loveable thief.

Enamoured by the lifestyles of the rich and famous in Delhi, Lucky socialises with them and then proceeds to rob them.

In the film, Lucky is projected as a modern day Robin Hood with a twist as he robbed both the rich and the poor without prejudice. Nothing was too big nor was anything too insignificant to escape his attention.

The film opens with his trial and charts his rise from the projects of crime ridden suburban Delhi to the very heart of the corridors of power. Along the way he makes lifelong friends, falls in love and manages to outwit the entire law and order machinery.

Bunty eyes Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure?

The Kerala police now doubts whether Bunty arrived in the capital city to plunder the treasure worth 1.45 lakh crore rupees at Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here. They have started a probe on this.

The police officers believe that burglars like Bunty will not come to steal just a car worth Rs 28 lakh. The police on Tuesday examined the video clippings at the temple recorded for the last six days. The police control room has 40 days long video of the temple premises with them.