Hubba Shyamal preferred a chopper to the trigger to kill his victims, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers revealed after interrogating the criminal on Friday.

?He was infamous in his circuit for his bizarre style of killing. He would hack his victim more than 20 times with a chopper,? the officers said.

The 40-year-old, wanted in over 26 cases of murder, extortion and dacoity, was arrested at INOX, City Centre, on Wednesday evening while he was coming out with two of his associates after watching a film.

Rajiv Kumar, deputy inspector general (operations) of CID, said: ?We have unearthed his network. Officers were surprised to learn that Shyamal used to run his crime network from the comfort of a luxurious apartment, off VIP Road. His vast domain spread from Bally, in Howrah, to Bhadreswar, in Hooghly.?

According to officers working on the case, the gangster had purchased three apartments in an upmarket area like Kaikhali, on VIP Road.

?Besides, he had invested nearly a crore in various funds. He is a hard nut to crack, but we are trying to gauge his financial status. More facts are likely to emerge in a few days,? said a CID officer.

?He used to be a petty thief a decade-and-a-half ago. Residents of Dharmadanga drove him out of the locality after he stole a few pieces of iron scrap from a local factory. He returned a few years later, only to loot the money kept for the salaries of the factory staff,? the officer added.

Another officer said Shyamal had become a terror in the locality after killing Congress councillor Manas Roychoudhury. ?He and his associates, including Benarasi Bapi (who was also arrested from Salt Lake), hacked Roychoudhury in front of a crowded market near Konnagar railway station. Shyamal had then succeeded to give cops the slip,? the officer said.

Investigation later revealed that a real-estate business rivalry was the behind the murder.

Sleuths claimed that Shyamal used to earn more than Rs 5 lakh a month.

?He used to charge a huge commission from both the seller and the buyer of plots in the areas under him. Besides, he used to smuggle out machines stolen from the factories in Howrah and Hooghly,? the officer elaborated.

As of now, police are not ruling out Shyamal?s hand in the murder of Sushil Pal, a doctor attached to Serampore Walsh Hospital.