Thief, who paid income taxes regularly to hoodwink the law, caught after 10 yrs - Hindustan Times
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Thief, who paid income taxes regularly to hoodwink the law, caught after 10 yrs

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By
Jun 18, 2020 09:18 PM IST

The thief, Sonu Vishwamarka, alias Golu, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, owns a flat in Indore’s Lasudia locality, where his family lives, and he was planning to build a house in Bhopal, when he was arrested on Tuesday, the police said.

A thief (26), who masqueraded as a contractor and paid income taxes regularly to hoodwink the law enforcement authorities, has been arrested in Bhopal and some of the stolen cash and jewellery have been recovered from him, the police said.

Golu, a school drop-out, started committing crimes in about 2010.(ANI)
Golu, a school drop-out, started committing crimes in about 2010.(ANI)

“I’ve never encountered such a smart thief who always managed to evade arrest, despite being detained and interrogated several times in the past 10 years. This was the first time, when the police could arrest him with concrete evidence such as stolen cash and jewellery,” said a police official, who interrogated the thief after he was arrested on Tuesday.

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The thief, Sonu Vishwamarka, alias Golu, a resident of Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, owns a flat in Indore’s Lasudia locality, where his family lives, and he was planning to build a house in Bhopal, when he was arrested on Tuesday, the police said.

“He has confessed to having committed 18 thefts and robberies, including seven four and six in Sagar, Indore, and Bhopal, respectively. We’re trying to ascertain whether he committed more crimes. He owns a flat in Indore, a car, motorbikes, two TV sets with giant screens, a piece of fitness equipment, a music system, jewellery, etc., whose cumulative worth is over Rs40 lakh. He had a set of tools to break open locks. He has a permanent account number (PAN) card and invested in several life insurance policies. He has multiple bank accounts and has also invested in a few fixed deposit schemes. In January, he had a balance of Rs5 lakh in one of his bank accounts,” said Sai Krishna Thota, superintendent of police (SP), Bhopal.

“He’s a rare thief, who never spends all his stolen money. He would sell the stolen ornaments and used the cash for his personal and family expenses,” the SP added.

Golu was arrested by Ashoka Garden police station authorities after he burgled an industrialist’s house at Bijli Nagar in Govindpura area of Bhopal on June 5. He stole cash and jewellery worth Rs10 lakh from the industrialist’s house, the police said.

“We examined footages of 150 close circuit TV (CCTV) cameras and tracked him to Shanti Homes Colony, where he lived in a rented flat. His residence is located about 10 kilometres away from the locality, where he had committed the theft. We recovered over Rs4.30 lakh in cash, which was hidden in an air cooler, and jewellery from his possession,” said the police official.

Golu’s modus operandi was not to live in any locality for more than five to six months. He had a target of four to five major thefts every year. He always carried a loaded pistol with him and was a solo operator, the police said.

SP Thota recounted the thief’s quick thinking on his feet.

“His car was seized in Indore in May last year after a huge amount of liquor found in it. However, he managed to give the police a slip by biting one of the policeman’s hands. However, he lodged an FIR (First Information Report) at another police station in Indore the following day, complaining that his car had been stolen in a bid to ensure that he got the insurance money,” SP Thota said.

The SP said that the accused bought his car in instalments to ensure that he always beyond doubt about his ill-gotten wealth.

Golu, a school drop-out, started committing crimes in about 2010. He told the police during interrogation that his parents were no more, he has no next of kin and his father left a lot of money for him when he died.

“He’s a serial thief, who’s suave and smart. He cooks up a fictitious tale on all occasions, whether it’s about his bike or house. We need to cross-check each and every information he has provided us,” the SP added.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Ranjan Srivastava leads HT’s coverage from Bhopal. He has spent more than two decades in journalism in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, covering political and other affairs. For the past 16 years, he has been working in Madhya Pradesh.

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