The Commissionerate Police on Monday arrested Hemant Das, a notorious criminal involved in over 500 burglary cases across Odisha in the last over three decades.
Hemant who was given the sobriquet ‘Crowbar Man’ for his audacious house break-ins, lived a high life by spending nights in five star hotels. He would throw the spoils of his loot on call girls by travelling to different parts of the country, police said.
Though Hemant claims to have to earned over Rs 4 to 5 crore from the burglaries in the last 35 years, he rarely saved his ill gotten millions as has been reflected in his bank balance, which shows a meagre Rs 1400.
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Umashankar Dash, DCP, Bhubaneswar said that Hemant was studying in the BJB college at Bhubaneswar when he was first arrested in connection with a clash in the 1980s’.
It was during his stay in jail when he developed proximity with a burglar who taught him the tricks of the trade.
“From 1986 onwards, Hemant became a professional burglar. He is involved in a number of burglaries across Odisha and outside. He has confessed to his involvement in over 500 cases including 100 burglary cases in Bhubaneswar alone,” said Dash.
According to Dash, the accused was arrested while he was planning to commit a burglary in Cuttack. Earlier, he was arrested for the last time by the special squad in Bhubaneswar in 2018. According to Police, Hemant was subsequently arrested in connection with two burglary cases in Puri in 2020 and was released in July this year.
Bhubaneswar DCP said,” Hemant mostly used to steal cash and used to go on vacations to different parts of the country including Gangtok, Shimla and Jammu and Kashmir. He was called the ‘Crowbar Man’ as he used the simple tool to break into the houses of people.”
Senior officials said that the accused will be interrogated to know if he was involved in some more burglary cases in other parts of the State.