Long before Devender Singh gained notoriety as "Bunty Chor", the super thief honed his skills as a private detective in Vasant Vihar in Delhi. However, he did not find the job challenging enough to hold his interest and he decided to try his hands at opening tricky locks.
His exploits soon became the talk of the town. Police officials began looking for the "smooth operator" who was interested in stealing crystal vases, ceramic dolls and even dogs, particularly pomeranians.
Bunty worked with such ease and dressed so smartly that he could walk into a 5-star hotel or a wedding party and walk out with someone else's laptop without being noticed, say officials.
In 2002, he broke into a businessman’s house in Saket and stole several items, including a framed picture of the businessman's wife and daughter. He hung the photoframe at his apartment in Mayur Vihar and told visitors they were his "family” to avoid suspicion.
But it's not something that police officials remember about him the most. They say Bunty would often find a way to escape from their custody and his escapes were as interesting as his legendary stealing methods.
Recounting an incident from 1993 one of them said Bunty was once caught in Chennai and put inside a lock-up. There, he killed a lizard and ate it. When he started to vomit, he was taken to a hospital, where he used a disposable syringe to open the handcuff -- something he does in less than 30 seconds.
That was not enough. Twenty days later, he was again arrested in Chandigarh. This time he escaped from the police custody by stealing the scooter of a Sub-Inspector after taking him into confidence, according to a dossier prepared on him by the Delhi Police.
Bunty then burgled the home of "an important person" and took away his entire household articles and his Maruti Esteem, the dossier said.
Because of his relatively newer ways of stealing items, Bunty got the nickname "super thief". Fame, however, was still some distance away.
After release from jail in 2010, Bunty posed himself as reformed and told media persons he had got "enlightenment" and could see the universe. But police officials were unimpressed and knew about his tactics. They kept him under surveillance discreetly and outwitted him this time when he came to commit another burglary in Delhi.
Bunty, who had studied only till class 9, began stealing items at the age of 14 years and over the years was involved in more than 550 cases, officials say. Over 250 of them was reported in Delhi alone.
He has also worked as a private detective with a firm in Vasant Vihar briefly, police said.
Describing his personality, police officials said Bunty was a smooth operator and possessed great self-confidence to deceive even trained eyes.
"He was fond of dogs and had a knack to tame them. If he planned to rob a house which had dogs, he would take Chiclets or chicken pieces. In Bangalore, he tamed a German Shepherd at a house he burgled," a police official said.
During a theft, when the security guard confronted him, he so convincingly told the guard his “sahib” was going to the airport that the guard helped Bunty in transporting the goods to the car.
On another occasion, officials say, a woman woke up to find Bunty stealing her jewellery. He wished her 'Good Morning' and walked out of the house and the woman was totally stumped, they add.
Bunty gained fame after participating in the reality show ''Big Boss'' in 2010 but was evicted after he misbehaved with host Salman Khan. He also inspired Bollywood movie Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!.
The Delhi Police nabbed the 53-year-old from Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday in connection with two recently executed thefts in the national capital. It would be interesting to see how long the super thief remains in police custody this time.
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks