THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Notorious robber Devinder Singh alias Bunty Chor, 44, has been found guilty of the robbery of a sports utility vehicle and valuables from the house of an NRI businessman at Marappallam near Pattom here in 2013. A local court here, which found Bunty guilty on Wednesday, reserved the sentence as the prosecution sought more time to file an additional chargesheet to declare Bunty as a habitual offender and seeking maximum punishment for him.

Public prosecutor Pallichal Pramod pressed for maximum punishment citing that Bunty was involved in several robberies and had even escaped from custody on several occasions. Mr B.A. Aloor appeared for Bunty. There were even attempts to relieve him from the case citing his mental condition. The case was posted to May 22 for further hearing on declaring him as a habitual offender. Bunty, who was involved in a series of robberies across the country, decamped with a Mitsubishi Outlander worth about `25 lakh, a laptop computer, two costly mobile phones, gold ornaments and cash from the house of NRI businessman Venugopalan Nair here during the wee hours of January 21, 2013.

The house was equipped with surveillance cameras, bullet proof windows and burglar alarms. Though Bunty tried to damage the surveillance cameras, the police received the image of his face as he removed his mask and smiled at the camera at the gate of the house. This was the crucial evidence. He entered the house by breaking the bullet proof window pane. Bunty was nabbed by a police team led by assistant commissioner K.E. Baiju from Maharashtra after an interstate efforts by the police to track him. Bunty, a native of Vikaspuri in Delhi, was involved in scores of robberies of costly vehicles, electronic gadgets, curios and wrist watches in cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. He was notorious for his modus operandi and fondness for costly cars and curious items, even pets. He even ran a private detective agency and maintained nexus with the cops.