<p>One day, Bandhu Singh mistook a CCTV camera for a bulb and let it be. He was captured on camera, and police... Read More

NEW DELHI: A 63-year-old man who used to steal to impress his five girlfriends was arrested recently at Anand Parbat .

Bandhu Singh had been dumped by his girlfriend almost a decade ago for not having enough money. That’s when he decided that money wouldn’t be a factor for a lover to reject him. Stealing was the easy way out and Singh took it.

He started small. When nobody got to know about his thefts, he got emboldened and started committing burglaries. With every crime he committed and got away with, his confidence kept on growing. He committed a spate of burglaries in upscale areas of north Delhi. He targeted only those homes that were not under CCTV surveillance so that he could stay off police radar.

But one day, he mistook a CCTV camera for a bulb and let it be. He was captured on camera, and the police just used the footage to identify and track him down.

A senior officer said the police received a call from one Jagdish Kumar, a businessman, at 9am on Saturday. He said when his employees came to his factory, they found that the place was ransacked. They then discovered that nearly Rs 60,000 cash, laptops and other valuables were missing.

DCP (Shahdara) Nupur Prasad said a team led by SHO Ram Chander Dahiya was formed to crack the case. “During investigation, CCTV footage was analysed and raids were conducted. Singh was arrested based on a tip-off,” said DCP Prasad.

Singh said during interrogation that he is a permanent resident of Mangolpuri and had five girlfriends whose extravagant lifestyles he had to support. So he became a robber. But he did try to reform himself many times, but the extravagant demands didn’t let him change.

He used to store the stolen items at a rented house and later dispose them off. A lot of cash was found on him too. Police said over 20 cases were cracked with Singh’s arrest.

