He was a Delhi University gold medalist. But he went from studying chemistry and law to committing armed robberies, said police. Deep Shubham (32), an M Phil in Chemistry from DU, was arrested on Thursday from Sohna in Haryana, ending a chase that went on several years and across states. The Crime Branch’s team said Shubham, wanted for two jewellery heists that he committed in North Delhi’s Model Town in 2021, had been living quietly as an interior designer under a false identity in Haryana, changing homes and phones to stay under the radar. Police said Shubham’s arrest marks the end of a pursuit that began in 2021, when he allegedly carried out two daytime heists targeting jewellery showrooms in Gujranwala Town. Even as he was arrested after the heists, he secured bail and did not appear for court hearings. This prompted police to declare him a proclaimed offender. In the first robbery, he walked into a 24 Karat jewellery outlet posing as a customer before pulling out a gun and threatening a gold appraiser, Manmeet Guleria, to hand over the cash. Guleria in her police complaint wrote, "Today, on September 17, around 2:50 pm, I was sitting inside the office. A person outside tried to open the gate of the shop. I thought it was a customer and opened the gate from inside.as he came inside, he pointed a gun at me and said, 'Mera dimaag kharab hai. Shaanti se jo kuch bhi hai woh de do (I'm crazy, hand over whatever you have quietly)'.I opened the locker and gave him the cash kept inside. He took the money and went inside the cabin, bringing his other accomplice, who was armed with a knife, and the shop's guard.” “They made me and the guard stand in a corner and demanded our phones. The two men threatened to kill us and took our phones. They locked us in and fled. I opened the gate and shouted outside, but they had already fled," the complaint further read. She also noted that the accused had not even covered their faces before escaping with Rs 6.06 lakh and the two mobile phones, pointing that they did not fear getting caught. Just over a month later, Shubham allegedly struck again. In the second incident, he allegedly stormed into another gold shop in the same area, brandishing a pistol and demanding money from an employee. Terrified, Rashika, the employee, handed over Rs 70,000 from the counter while the guard chased after him as he fled towards Model Town. He was later arrested, said police. However, this was not the first time Shubham was arrested. He was caught in 2017 for lobbing a smoke bomb into a bank branch in Sitamarhi in Bihar, before robbing it. Shubham had allegedly used his knowledge of chemistry to make a homemade bomb using firecrackers, methyl acetate and benzene to create a smoke diversion before escaping with Rs 3.6 lakh. Using the money, he made his way to Delhi to hide. He was later tracked down to Burari in Northeast Delhi, where his family lived, and was arrested. After his arrest in the Bihar bank robbery case in 2017, Shubham had spent time in Sitamarhi Jail, where he met Ritesh Thakur, another habitual offender who would later become his partner in the Delhi robberies. "During his period of incarceration in Sitamarhi Jail, he met one Ritesh Thakur. When he got released from jail, he met Ritesh Thakur in Delhi and committed robberies at Model Town. They were arrested by the local police. During the trial, he was released on bail and he went underground to escape the legal proceedings," said DCP Crime Branch Harsh Indora. Shubham was subsequently declared a proclaimed offender by two different courts in Rohini — first in July 2024, and again in July this year after he repeatedly failed to appear for hearings. It was a tip-off on October 9 that finally helped police trace him. Head Constable Ajay of the Crime Branch received information that Shubham was hiding in Hari Nagar in Sohna. A team was subsequently formed to trace him. Using technical surveillance, the team soon zeroed in on the suspect’s movement, and Shubham was arrested without resistance the same day. Investigators said Shubham’s background stands out for its contrast — a promising academic career allegedly derailed by frustration and financial distress. Born in Sitamarhi in Bihar, Shubham grew up in Burari where his father ran an e-rickshaw business and his brother became an engineer. Shubham, raised by his maternal grandmother, was academically gifted. He graduated in Chemistry (Hons.) from Kirori Mal College in 2012, then completed a master’s and M.Phil from Delhi University. He even cleared Common Law Admission Test or CLAT and joined a national law university in Visakhapatnam but dropped out within a year. Later, he enrolled for an MA in English at Kirori Mal College and took up a job at a call centre. According to the police, his family’s lack of support and mounting financial pressure pushed him into crime.
