After 13-year career, burglar’s home has gym, chandelier, bath tub

KOLKATA/HOWRAH: For 13 years, 46-year-old Amit Dutta lived a treble beingness — a rich, friendly, and adjuvant neighbour by day, and a bedraggled thief by night. On the nighttime of June 5, Dutta's luck ran retired aft Howrah agrarian constabulary caught him trying to interruption into a location successful Rajapur.

Questioning him led constabulary to his palatial location successful Nodakhali a time later. The three-storied house, replete with a treadmill, bathtub-fitted toilet, marble floors and chandeliers, was, ironically, kept nether CCTV surveillance to pre-empt thefts. Dutta, presently successful constabulary custody, claimed that helium paid "income tax" for his earnings, precocious went to Indonesia for a vacation, and has besides booked a sedan.

Dutta's modus operandi was blase yet simple.

Every morning, helium crossed the Bhagirathi stream from Budge Budge to areas successful Uluberia, Rajapur, Bauria, and Panchla. He would past alteration into tattered apparel and a lungi, posing arsenic a ragpicker to scout imaginable targets. His expertise successful lock-picking and penchant for affluent homes, wherever helium focused connected stealing currency and jewellery, led to his "success".The Howrah agrarian police, probing respective lakhs worthy of theft of currency and jewellery from Uluberia businessman Bhaktipada Mondal's location connected Wednesday, received a extremity that the thief would effort different break-in astatine different businessman's location successful Rajapur's Haldarpara connected Thursday night.

Police successful plain apparel laid a trap and waited for Dutta to effort the break-in. He was caught red-handed.Police said they are digging up aged unsolved theft lawsuit files successful Uluberia, Nimdighi, and Rajapur constabulary stations implicit the past decade. When Rajapur cops contacted their Nodakhali counterparts to "cross-check" Dutta's location code and "criminal antecedents", the accusation relayed backmost prompted a Howrah and South 24-Parganas constabulary squad to raid Dutta's sprawling mansion with the accused.In this house, Dutta lived with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law. The location is equipped with luxury items, including chandeliers, a bathtub, gym equipment, aerial conditioners, costly electronics, and a cautiously maintained garden. "Dutta adjacent utilized the stolen wealth to question to Indonesia with his household and, remarkably, paid regular income taxation connected his amerciable earnings. He precocious booked a car, conscionable a week earlier his arrest.

These are being verified," an serviceman said.Police sources described Dutta arsenic highly intelligent, often attempting to mislead investigators with contra-dictory statements. Initially, helium provided mendacious identif-ication but yet revealed his existent individuality nether questioning. The lawsuit has shocked section residents, peculiarly successful Batanagar, wherever Dutta earlier lived successful a tiny tin-roofed location 13 years ago. His neighbour, Samar Pramanik, said the root of Dutta's evident wealthiness is present wide to everyone. Locals said Dutta was precise affable and helpful, adjacent donating immense amounts to the section nine and participating actively successful each nine activities. The accused is presently successful constabulary custody arsenic investigations proceed to probe his extended transgression activities crossed aggregate jurisdictions.