Dubey: ‘The Professor of heist’ from Nalasopara

After running into debts, life unravels for this extravagant employee, who robs bank he had worked in, kills his ex-colleague; even escapes from jail only to be caught again

Mumbai: Often, fact flows stranger than fiction as proved by the life of Jaunpur-born Anil Kumar Rajdev Dubey. In an effort to project a lifestyle beyond his means, this Bachelor of Computer Applications graduate went from being employed in well-known banks to a criminal, wanted for murdering his ex-colleague, injuring another grievously, misappropriation of funds and trying to rob the very bank he had worked in.

Armed with his qualification, Dubey came to Mumbai in the 2000s looking for a job and after a decade-long struggle, managed to get a position as manager of the Virar East branch of ICICI Bank. While enjoying a salary of ₹ 1.5 lakh per month, he bought a two-bedroom flat in Nalasopara, and drove around a Ford Ecosport. He went on to join Axis Bank, Naigaon branch in 2020. (HT PHOTO)

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to presume that 38-year-old Dubey could have possibly envisaged himself as “The Professor” from the popular show Money Heist as he went around executing his nefarious plans.

Armed with his qualification, Dubey came to Mumbai in the 2000s looking for a job and after a decade-long struggle, managed to get a position as manager of the Virar East branch of ICICI Bank. While enjoying a salary of ₹ 1.5 lakh per month, he bought a two-bedroom flat in Nalasopara, and drove around a Ford Ecosport. He went on to join Axis Bank, Naigaon branch in 2020.

If Dubey’s parents believed their son was leading a picture-perfect life, they cannot be blamed for it. Thus, on the night of July 29, 2021 when the Virar police knocked on their doors, the life of the family changed forever. Dubey had been arrested for murdering an ex-colleague - an official at the ICICI Bank and grievously injuring another.

Dubey’s parents were in the dark about his real situation. Dubey was in a debt of close to ₹ 1 crore. He had lost heavily in stock market and in business ventures. He had also misappropriated close to ₹ 27 lakh from the Axis Bank branch, where he worked.

As the yearly bank audit approached, Dubey began to hatch criminal plans to get out of the hole he had dug himself into. His first plan was to commit a heist at the very branch of the ICICI Bank in Virar East, where he had worked.

With the intention of robbing it, Dubey walked into the bank at around 8 pm on July 29, 2021. He had carefully plotted the heist, knowing that the lockers would be open as it was the month-end and accounting would still be going on.

He also knew that most of the employees would leave the bank by 7.30 pm and after that just two women employees would be around. He also knew that the security guard on duty would leave at 7.30 pm after his shift and it would take some time for the next guard to take charge.

Dubey knew the precise positions of the CCTV cameras. To dodge the cameras and hide his identity, he wore loose clothes, a large mask on his face and a turban to cover his balding head. He also donned a black shirt hoping it will hide the blood stains on it.

As per the plan, he parked his car at a distance from the ICICI Bank branch and walked in to the bank – as he had expected — without being stopped by anyone, at around 8 pm.

Dubey knew bank’s deputy manager Yogita Chaudhary, 34, and entered her cabin under the pretext of discussing job change. Within seconds, Dubey attacked the unsuspecting woman with a knife and inflicted 17 stab wounds on her, killing her on the spot.

The only other employee present at that time was 32-year-old cashier Shraddha Devrukhar. She heard the commotion and rushed to the next cabin to find Chaudhary lying in a pool of blood. Dubey charged at Devrukhar as well with the knife and injured her on her neck, head and chest.

After Devrukhar collapsed, Dubey went to the bank’s locker, which was open, and started emptying the gold jewellery in them into the metal boxes he had brought along.

He had assumed Devrukhar to be dead. However, the cashier, despite being slashed and stabbed multiple times, regained consciousness and pressed the alarm bell. She even opened the branch’s door and screamed for help.

Dubey was caught and thrashed by passers-by as he tried to escape with the boxes filled with gold jewellery worth around ₹3 crore. He was then handed over to Virar police.

Devrukhar’s blow by blow account to the police, and the CCTV footage from the bank, helped Virar police prepare a watertight case against the 38-year-old.

However, that did not stop ‘The Professor’ from Nalasopara

Lodged at Thane central prison, Dubey immediately began plotting his escape. He first decided to lose weight – in case he was required to outrun the policemen. He shed 25 kilograms, to reach a weight of 65 kgs, in the first six months of his judicial custody.

As his next step, he befriended a criminal — 42-year-old Chand Badshah Aziz Khan (also a resident of Nalasopara) in the jail. He offered Khan ₹ 10 lakh to help him escape and be taken to Nepal.

Dubey decided to execute his plan on November 26, 2022, when he was scheduled to be produced before the sessions court in Vasai.

On the planned day, on the pretext of using the washroom at the court premises, Dubey slipped past the accompanying policemen and escaped along with Chand on a motorcycle, stolen from Byculla.

Dubey, however, was caught again by the police the next day when he went to his distant relative Sindhu Choubey’s home. Suspicious about his visit, Sindhu spoke to Dubey’s wife Kishan, and then informed the police after locking him up in a room.

The next day Dubey tried to slit his throat with a paper pin while in police custody and claimed that under depression, as his wife and parents had stopped talking to him.

By then Kishan had sold the two-bedroom house in Nalasopara and shifted to the residence of her brother Hansraj.

Dubey also told police officials that he is petrified when he thinks about Chaudhary and feels as if she is haunting him. He is unaware of the condition of Devrukhar, who is still bed-ridden and traumatised.

A relative of Devrukhar said that she still lives in fear. “When she got to know that Dubey had escaped, she requested and got police protection,” said the relative.

As for ‘The Professor’, his woes have compounded. Apart from the murder charges, Dubey now faces another FIR for fraud by Axis Bank and is also separately charged for his unsuccessful attempt to escape custody.