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Meghalaya's Phantom gives cops the slip again

SHILLONG: The Phantom has given police the slip yet again - the sixth time, to be precise. Meghalaya 's own Francois Besse, habitual offender David Lyngdoh pulled a disappearing act on Wednesday from the high-security East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner's office.


"The undertrial, infamous for his creepy criminal ways, was lodged in jail at Nongpoh in Ri-Bhoi district and was brought to Shillong to be produced before the sessions court ...

But he escaped custody in broad daylight," sources said, adding that a search operation has been launched to track him down.

Police peg the number of burglaries the 28-year-old - who also goes by the names of Bah Jyllud (massage man), Albert, Raja and Ricky Malngiang - has pulled off to anything between 20 and 25. He has also been charged with several cases of molestation.

The Phantom's first arrest was in 2008. After spending a few days in Shillong district jail, he made his escape - from the Shillong Civil Hospital, when he had been taken for a checkup. He was re-arrested but got bail two years later.

Escaped from hospital in 2017

David was arrested again in 2011, when police noted how he likes to "make coffee and fry eggs" during his robberies, but got bail after a few months. But not quite done, he stole his bike, which had been seized, from the Mawngap police station. His next arrest was in 2014 and, again, in 2015.

The last such instance was in 2017, when he was brought to the Nongpoh Community Health Centre by police and he escaped through an unattended sliding window pane in the hospital, disappearing into a jungle nearby.

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