Hari Narain alias Tunna. Telegraph picture

Patna, April 1: Hari Narain alias Tunna, 32, taught music to unsuspecting youths. But the nimble fingers of this Manoj Tiwari fan could not only play a harmonium or a guitar but also open a lock or two.

Arrested from Nawada area of Bhojpur district last week, Tunna was wanted in a number of cases of murder, extortion, loot and dacoity in East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali districts, said Bhojpur superintendent of police M.R. Naik.

For the past three years, Tunna resided in a rented accommodation at Chandwa Housing Colony under Nawada police station in Ara town. He taught music to teenagers in the area and had earned a reputation for himself. He was arrested on March 26 after he duped a man in an automated teller machine (ATM) kiosk.

Tunna’s neighbours told the police that he was courteous, soft spoken and popular among his acquaintances. They were shocked to learn he had criminal antecedents.

Sources said Tunna’s effort to return to the crime world was the undoing for this modern day Jimmy Valentine.

Tunna, also known as Krishna, was caught after the cops came across a closed circuit surveillance camera footage of an ATM kiosk, where he duped a man of Rs 3.7 lakh. Tunna took the man’s ATM card on the pretext of helping him and managed to know its PIN (personal identification number).

Sources said Tunna helped the man to withdraw money with his card. But when the ATM card of the victim came out of the machine, Tunna retained it and handed the man a fake card.

Thereafter, Tunna used the card of the victim to withdraw Rs 3.7 lakh. An FIR was lodged in the case.

Naik told The Telegraph: “Tunna had started using his students to gather information and steal cars from markets. Several students of Tunna’s coaching classes admitted to being used by their teacher.” Nawada police station house officer Kamod Prasad said the parents of the youths were taken into confidence and their music lessons were complemented with hands-on training in crime.

“Tunna used to supply firearms to a group of criminals. He even used his students to deliver the arms,” Prasad said.

A source said during interrogation Tunna confessed to a number of crimes he committed since 1998. He is also wanted in a number of cases in Jharkhand.

Tunna escaped scot-free in a number of cases, as he is the son of Binda Prasad Singh, an influential mukhiya (village head).

Tunna’s brother, Laxmi Narayan Singh, is also serving sentence in Motihari jail, the sources said.