A man who spent 17 years on the run to avoid being arrested for theft was finally nabbed in the Malviya Nagar area in Rajasthan’s Jaipur on Saturday. He not only changed his name but also dressed as a transgender.
According to The Times Of India, Chetan Singhwal, 37, a resident of Prem Nagar on Agra Road in Kanota, had been absconding since 2008 after being arrested for theft in Malviya Nagar. After his release on bail, he vanished and managed to evade arrest for years.
Singhwal would frequently change his locations and eventually adopted the name Chetna to integrate himself into the transgender community to stay under the radar.
He began earning a livelihood while living as a transgender person, he even considered undergoing gender reassignment surgery to further solidify his new identity and avoid arrest, as per TOI. Singhwal successfully evaded capture for years by changing his appearance and maintaining a discreet lifestyle.
In February 2008, Singhwal committed the first theft by breaking into a house and stealing gold, silver jewellery and cash. After his arrest and a short stint brief time in jail, he was released on bail but failed to appear for subsequent court hearings.
As per the report, he had fled Jaipur and kept moving to different cities to evade the police. About four years ago, Singhwal returned to Jaipur and began living under his new identity.
In a separate case, Santosh Chaudhary, alias Vaitu, a 23-year-old resident of Andheri, was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing diamond and gold jewellery worth Rs 36.4 lakh from the home of an import-export entrepreneur in Malad (West).
According TOI, all the stolen items were successfully recovered.
Deputy Commissioner Anand Bhoite stated that Chaudhary is a habitual offender with 30 break-in cases registered against him at different police stations across Mumbai.