Chemistry Scholar With MPhil Turned Bank Robber. How Law Caught Up With Him

Cinema mirrors life, but sometimes, the reverse happens. In the popular series Breaking Bad, a Chemistry professor turns to making drugs after he learns he is terminally ill. And in a replay of a chemist turning rogue, a Chemistry scholar carried out bank robberies in Delhi and Bihar. Deep Shubham claims economic hardships drove him to crime. He did mend his ways later and hoped that the law would forget, but it did not.

Last week, Delhi Police Head Constable Ajay got information that Deep Shubham, wanted in multiple bank robbery cases, was spotted in Haryana's Sohna area. The cops then used technical surveillance to track Deep down and arrested him in connection with bank robberies in Delhi and Bihar in 2017 and 2021.

According to the police, Deep had been working with an interior design firm.

Police have said 32-year-old Deep, originally from Bihar's Sitamarhi district, completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Chemistry from Delhi's prestigious Kirori Mal College. He went on to obtain the advanced degree of MPhil. He then decided to study law and cleared the Common Law Admission Test. When he was pursuing an LLB course, his family started facing financial difficulties, and he had to drop out.

Deep has told police that when his family could not send him money anymore, he turned to crime. This does not add up, considering he was well-educated and could have easily found a job.

In 2017, police said, Deep struck for the first time. He made a smoke bomb with firecrackers, methyl acetate and benzene. He then targeted a Bank of India branch in Sitamarhi and looted cash worth Rs 3.6 lakh. He was subsequently arrested and convicted.

Once out of jail, Deep had an opportunity to turn his life around. But he chose crime again. He teamed up with a criminal, Ritesh Thakur, and the two carried out armed robberies in two Delhi banks in September and October 2021. Jewellery worth nearly Rs 7 lakh and mobile phones were stolen during the robberies, both in Delhi's Gujranwala.

Deep was named a proclaimed offender and police were on the lookout for him. They caught up with him last week. Harsh Indora, Deputy Commissioner of Police for Delhi Police Crime Branch, said that Deep chose the path of crime despite being highly qualified, and now he has ended up where a criminal belongs.