Geriatric Thief

A 70-year-old former lawyer was found to be the mastermind behind a cluster of car robberies spanning 40 years.

A 70-year-old former lawyer, Dhani Ram Mittal, was found to be the mastermind behind a cluster of car robberies spanning 40 years. Diplomas in handwriting and graphology and a Bachelor’s in science and law apparently did nothing for him. Police found him after they had already solved nine vehicle theft cases. They caught him and his partner trying to sell a stolen vehicle. Following the investigation, nine more vehicles were impounded and four vehicles were found hidden on a five-acre plot in Dhani village in Rajasthan. He stole the first of his 89 cars in the 1960s, when he was a practicing lawyer. Later, he would spend his mornings surveying Maruti Esteem cars with old locks parked at local courts.