A class 9 dropout, Devender Singh aka 'Bunty Chor', worked as a private detective before becoming the infamous super thief who inspired the Bollywood film 'Oye Lucky, Luck Oye'.
In 2008, an Indian film was released about a charismatic man, hailing from a dysfunctional family in suburban West Delhi, who used to fearlessly rob the elite houses across major cities in a unique fashion, often not out of necessity, but just for fun. The movie, titled ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, which went on to receive a National Film Award, was inspired by the real life of Devender Singh, notoriously known as ‘Bunty Chor’.
Long before he came to be known by his alias, Devender Singh honed his skills as a private detective in the Vasant Vihar area of Delhi. However, he found the job too easy for him to hold interest in and decided to try his hands at opening tricky locks.
He robbed the entire city with such ease and finesse that if he walked into a 5-star hotel or a wedding party and walked out with someone else's laptop, nobody would even notice.
But his exploits soon became the talk of the town as police officials began looking for the "smooth operator" who was interested in stealing crystal vases, ceramic dolls and even dogs, particularly Pomeranians.
Bunty studied only till class 9 and began stealing items at the age of 14 years. Over the years, he was involved in more than 550 cases, more than half of which were reported in Delhi, officials say.
He also briefly worked as a private detective with a firm in Vasant Vihar, according to the police. Bunty possessed great self-confidence to deceive even trained eyes.
“He was fond of dogs and had a knack to tame them. If he planned to rob a house which had dogs, he would take Chiclets or chicken pieces. In Bangalore, he tamed a German Shepherd at a house he burgled,” a police official told PTI.
During one of the thefts, Bunty was confronted by a security guard. He so convincingly told the guard his “sahib” was going to the airport that the guard helped Bunty in transporting the goods to the car.
What was interesting about him was that he always found a unique way of stealing items. This gave him the nickname “super thief”. Bunty was even caught by the police a few times but he would always find a way to escape. His fame was still awaited.
Bunty’s road to fame
Bunty Chor was the inspiration behind the blockbuster comedy ”Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!”, that starred Abhay Deol as ‘Lucky’, a smooth-talking thief.
Subsequently, Bunty, who was already quite popular in the capital city by now, achieved bigger fame and name when he went on the prime-time reality show ”Big Boss” in 2010. He was, however, evicted for misbehaving with host Salman Khan.
In 2002, Bunty broke into a businessman’s house in Saket and stole several items, including a framed picture of the businessman’s wife and daughter. He hung the photo frame at his apartment in Mayur Vihar and told visitors they were his “family” to avoid suspicion.
In 1993, police officials recalled, Bunty was once caught in Chennai and put inside a lock-up where he killed a lizard and ate it. When he started to vomit, he was taken to a hospital. There, he used a disposable syringe to open the handcuff and in less than 30 seconds, he was free.
Twenty days later, he was arrested again in Chandigarh. This time he escaped from police custody by stealing the scooter of a sub-inspector after taking him into confidence, according to a dossier prepared on him by the Delhi Police.
After release from jail in 2010, Bunty posed himself as a reformed person and told media persons he had got “enlightenment”. Police officials, who knew about his tactics by then, kept him under surveillance discreetly and outwitted him this time when he came to commit another burglary in Delhi.
In 2017, the burglar allegedly attempted suicide by consuming light bulbs at the Poojappura Central Jail in Chennai.
The 53-year-old was arrested last week from Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh. While police maintain a strict vigil this time, it will be interesting to see if he escapes again.