In Delhi’s posh neighbourhoods, 27-year-old Irfan was a nameless and faceless burglar who broke into homes and made away with jewellery and other valuables. But, in his native village in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district, Irfan portrayed himself as a social worker who organised health camps and funded the weddings for poor families — all to fuel his political ambitions.
The police were on his trail ever since May this year when he allegedly stole gold and diamond jewellery worth lakhs of rupees from a house in New Friends Colony. He was, however, caught on a CCTV camera and it did not take the investigators too long to identify him.
Once his address was known, police raided his native village and nabbed him on July 6. When the police caught him, he was wearing a Rolex watch that was allegedly stolen from a house in Delhi. He had also recently bought a Honda Civic sedan after selling some stolen items.
Within no time, his link to a dozen similar burglaries in the posh localities of south Delhi was revealed. Irfan lived in a rented house in Jamia Nagar.
Police officers said Irfan alias Ujala was trying to earn the image of a ‘Robin Hood’ in his village to achieve a larger objective. “Irfan harboured political ambitions. He was consciously creating that image to fuel his dreams,” said an investigator.
When the police team traced him to his village earlier this month, residents of his village refused to accept that Irfan was a thief who would frequently steal from the rich residents of south Delhi.
“Villagers insisted that Irfan was a Delhi-based businessman who did social work in his village. They respectfully addressed him as Ujala Babu,” an investigator told Hindustan Times. Police said Irfan not only presented a “larger than life” image in front of the villagers, he had also been lying to his girlfriend — a woman who had apparently acted in a few Bhojpuri films.
The police team had to convince the villagers by showing them CCTV footage of Irfan’s alleged involvement in thefts in New Friends Colony and Lajpat Nagar. A search of his property led to the seizure of stolen jewellery, watches and other valuables worth over Rs 20 lakh.
While the police team too was initially taken aback by Irfan’s reputation, a further investigation into his life revealed that he harboured a dream to make it big in local politics and all his “social work” was a conscious effort to realise his dream.
“He would don kurta-pyjama and frequently upload pictures of his social work on Facebook. He was very conscious of his image and used to participate in the smallest of social activities in his village. He even used to discuss a foray into politics with the people he helped,” said the investigator.
The larger portion of his loot, however, would fund his frequent pub visits, expensive cars, costly watches and clothes. “He once offered to give Rs 10,000 at a bar in Delhi if the live performers there sang a song of his choice,” said Romil Baaniya, DCP (south-east).
Irfan has told his interrogators that he would never wear shoes or slippers while committing the burglaries that mostly involved breaking into houses through doors or windows of houses locked from outside. “He believed that if he would walk barefoot, he would be able to steal without alerting anyone,” said an officer.
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