‘Several thieves, only 1 Bunty chor’: How he kept cops on their toes for 3 decades

Senior police officers who have dealt with him in the past said that Bunty, who has been in and out of police custody, was first arrested in 1993 in the capital but managed to flee from the office of Special Staff soon after. Said an officer: “Subsequently, he was caught in Chennai. While in the lock-up, he noticed a lizard. He killed the reptile and ate it, due to which he started to vomit…Declaring himself ill, he demanded to be taken to a hospital, where he used a disposable syringe to open the handcuffs and escaped again.”

Twenty days later, Bunty was arrested by the Chandigarh Police but he escaped one more time in a scooter he stole from one of the sub-inspectors.

Recalling Bunty’s characteristic way of operating, another officer said that he was fond of dogs and once, while committing burglaries in two houses in Ludhiana and Panchkula each, he noticed furious dogs guarding the residences. “In both cases, he established eye contact with them and offered them a chocolate before befriending them and gaining entry…in another instance, when Bunty was confronted with a ferocious Rottweiler dog in a house in New Friends Colony, he threw a cotton cloth soaked in urine of a female dog to mislead the canine…Bunty claimed that he had consulted a veterinarian for the same,” said the officer.

“A smooth talker with enough self-confidence to outwit anyone” is how several officers described Bunty. “In one instance of theft at a businessman’s house, when confronted by the security guards, he calmly told them that his ‘sahib’ was heading to the airport, which convinced them and they ended up helping him transport the goods to the car…Unlike other thieves, Bunty used to dress up smarty and mingle with affluent people under false pretexts,” an officer said. “In another incident, when a woman, inside whose house Bunty was stealing jewellery, woke up, he politely wished her a good morning and walked out of the house with the ornaments,” the officer added.

In 2008, a Bollywood film, “Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye”, said to be based on Bunty’s life, opened in theatres. Two years later, in 2010, he came out of a Delhi jail and went on to feature in popular TV reality show “Bigg Boss” as one of the contestants.

Sources said that once Bunty even mentioned that he wanted to start an “anti-burglary tactics school” after being released from jail. “Keyboard was the most sought-after item to steal for Bunty. He was fond of laptops and in every case of burglary, Bunty used to pick one up. After committing robberies, Bunty used to visit hill stations to dispose of the stolen articles…he would roam around the market and claim that he had lost his purse and whomsoever found it, he would offer them the stolen article for half the price in order to pay the bills of the hotels he was staying in…He used to accompany his girlfriend on such trips,” said an officer.

Retired Delhi Police ACP Rajender Singh, who has been involved twice in arresting Bunty, said that during interrogation, the latter used to claim that stealing expensive items was his “calling” and that every theft was like a challenge for him.

Recalling a peculiar incident, Singh said, “In 2002, Bunty broke into a businessman’s house in Saket and, incidentally, the stolen items included a framed picture of the man’s wife and daughter. Soon after the robbery, Bunty started living in an apartment in Mayur Vihar with the photo placed on a wall…he used to tell people that the woman and the child in the photo were his family…” There can be several thieves but only one Bunty Chor, Singh added.