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Notorious burglar Devinder Singh alias "Bunty chor", wanted for a ’hitech’ burglary at the residence of an NRI here last week, has been arrested from a hotel in Pune and is expected to be brought to Kerala.

Devinder, who drove off in a luxury car he lifted from the house he broke into here, was taken into custody from a Pune hotel yesterday after a receptionist there recognised him. The hotel employee immediately informed the Kerala police of the presence of the Delhi-based thief. They, in turn, alerted the Pune police, who acted swiftly and detained him, police here said.

A police team from here led by a Circle Inspector, already camping in Bangalore for the last few days on the trail of the burglar, reached Pune by this afternoon and secured the custody of Devinder after completing legal formalities.

Kerala had sought the custody of Devidner on the ground that the last crime he committed was in the state and he was required for further investigations in the case.

According to police sources here, Maharashtra police would not have any legal difficulty in handing over him to Kerala police since no case is pending against him in that state, though he was involved in nearly 500 cases in some other states in the country.

"His last criminal deed was in Kerala. So we have a legal ground in seeking his custody," Kerala Home Minister Thiruvanhcur Radhakrishnan said.

Devinder broke into the house of an affluent NRI here on January 21 breaking its high-tech security systems like intruder alarm. After lifting a laptop computer and some other costly gadgets, he decamped in the luxury car parked in the house.

The hidden camera installed in the house, however, got clear image of the thief and the police identified him as Devinder, as he enjoyed the status of skilled conman and even appeared in a television reality show some time back. A couple of days later, Devinder was spotted in Tamil Nadu-Karnartaka border, fuelling speculation of his arrest. He, however, gave a slip to the police by abandoning the car he had stolen.