Representative image of breaking into a house
Credit: iStock Photo
Bhubaneswar: On Friday, Manoj Singh, a native of Cuttack was arrested by the Bhubaneswar police under a burglary case. However, Singh runs a motivational niche based YouTube channel called "Change Your Life" preaching crime-free life and in the meantime attempting robberies.
On August 14, he allegedly robbed a house in the Bharatpur police station area, stealing 200 grams of gold and Rs 5 lakh in cash.
The complainant, a bank employee, said that when her husband, who owns a pharmacy, returned back home at 2:30 pm, he discovered 300 grams in gold ornaments and Rs 5 lakh cash had been robbed from their bedroom almirah.
Police had investigations with prisoners and officers familiar of similar offences. “We initiated an intensive investigation, deploying both human intelligence and technical support to solve the case,” an officer familiar with the investigation said.
According to sources, the suspect had mortgaged 82 grams of the stolen gold at a bank in Nayagarh — some 80 km from Bhubaneswar — for Rs 4.73 lakh. The remaining 100 grams of gold and cash were allegedly recovered from his possession.
Police said that Singh was a "habitual day-time burglar" and broke into locked and standalone homes during the day.
“Though he is an expert burglar and has at least 10 theft cases pending against him, he gave motivational talks during his free time and earned good views,” Police Commissioner S. Dev Dutta Singh said.
After Singh held in Khandagiri Bari, his daughter deleted his YouTube channel and police suggested not to believe people based on their online personalities.