Delhi police have arrested a 48-year-old millionaire hotelier for allegedly carrying out more than 200 robberies in the country's capital.
The man identified as Manoj Chaube has lived a double life, hiding from his family for nearly 25 years. Chaube was charged in 15 criminal cases between 2001 and 2023 in Delhi.
Chaube is from Siddharth Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh, where his family lives. However, he later settled in Nepal. Chaube first came to Delhi in 1997 and started running a canteen at Kirti Nagar police station. But after being arrested for stealing from the canteen, he was sent to prison.
After his release, he committed robberies while living in rented houses. He earns a lot of money and returns to his village.
Manoj used to conduct reconnaissance first and then target bungalows, houses, and apartments in areas such as Model Town, Rohini, Ashok Vihar, and Pitampura. With the money he stole, he built a hotel in Nepal. During this time, he married the daughter of a government official working at the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department.
He told his wife that he owned a parking lot business in Delhi and had to stay there for six to eight months a year. In UP, he built a guesthouse registered in his wife's name. Chaube has also leased his land to a hospital in the same town and he receives a monthly rent of Rs 20,000. Chaube eventually built a house in Lucknow for his family. Despite owning millions of dollars worth of property and collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent, he continued to come to Delhi to carry out robberies.
One of the victims filed a complaint with the police following a robbery, and an FIR was filed. Police found CCTV footage, which helped them identify Chaube's face.
He was later spotted riding a scooter bought by a man named Vinod Thapa. It was revealed that Chaube was married to a Nepali woman named Sapna and hid her in Delhi.
Vinod and Sapna are siblings. Vinod told police that his brother-in-law often drove his scooter around. On July 10, police arrested Chaube.
WANT SIN
Chaube has 15 thefts registered against him and has been arrested 9 times in the past. He once changed his name and quickly hid the stolen money after committing the theft. Currently, he is behind bars.
