A 59-year-old man, who reportedly admitted to having single-handedly stolen over ₹5 crore in the past 35 years , was arrested by city police on Monday.
Hemanta Dash had carried out his first burglary at the age of 24.
“In 1980s, Dash was studying in BJB College, a premier government-run college of the State. In connection with a clash, he was sent to jail. The man met a burglar there. Subsequently, he started his burglary journey by breaking open houses,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Uma Shankar Das.
A special squad of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police nabbed him on Monday for his alleged involvement in 82 recorded cases. He was last arrested in Bhubaneswar in 2018.
‘Crowbar man’
Dash used crowbar to break doors and lockers for which police investigators had nicknamed him as ‘crowbar man’.
“He targeted closed houses and commercial establishments with the help of a crowbar. He started his burglary at the age of 24 with his associates who are, mostly dead. He preferred to steal cash,” said the police.
During interrogation, Dash, according to police, admitted to having committed burglaries in over 500 places in the country. He used to travel to different cities by flight and stay in expensive hotels. He had looted more than ₹5 crore in his life, but has spent the entire looted money in brothels and wine.
“After every loot, he used to travel to places like Gangtok, Kolkata, Bihar, Mumbai, Chennai and Shimla,” the police said..
