BHUBANESWAR: The adage, ‘Old Habits Die Hard’ was proven all over again as a criminal, who had reportedly turned into a motivational speaker to return to the mainstream, allegedly committed a theft as he could not control his urge to make easy money.
Police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh told mediapersons that the accused, Manoj Kumar Singh of Cuttack’s Baideswar area had broken into the house of a newly-wed couple in Khandagiribari area on August 14 when they were not around, and decamped with gold ornaments worth over Rs 20 lakh and Rs 1 lakh cash.
Bharatpur police registered a case, collected information and took technological assistance to identify and nab Singh. Having criminal record since 2011, Singh told the investigators that he had decided to quit the crime and return to the mainstream. He even opened a YouTube channel ‘Change Your Life’ about three months back with an objective to reintegrate criminals into the society by motivating them to quit committing crimes.
However, he could not control his urge to make easy money through burglary. Singh’s daughter who assisted him in recording videos and upload them on YouTube reportedly deleted the channel after he was arrested once again on charges of theft.
Out of the total stolen jewellery items, Singh had mortgaged 82 gm at a non-banking financial company’s branch in Nayagarh and availed a loan of Rs 4.73 lakh. Police seized all the stolen gold ornaments and cash from Singh. Probe revealed he was booked in 10 cases across different police stations in the capital.