"I get about 40 calls a day" - the guy who made picking locks his profession

“There are about 40 calls a day” – the young man who made opening locks his profession

The incident in Tashkent, where an elderly woman was locked in her house and left unattended, caused widespread public discussion. Kun.uz became interested in the activities of Ismail Bahodirov, who opened the door to the house in this case. According to the young man who is engaged in the service of opening locked doors, at least 5 of the daily calls are related to children.

Ismail Bahodirov from Tashkent and about ten of his teammates go to 30-40 calls a day across the city, opening locked cars or house doors. Some cases are related to trapped children or lonely elderly people. A Kun.uz correspondent recently spoke with Ismail Bahodirov, who recently rescued an elderly woman who was locked in her house and left unattended in the Mirzo Ulugbek district.

“My car got locked too”

Ismail graduated from medical college. However, he noted that the difficult situation he experienced when his car got locked completely changed his fate:

“When my car got locked too, I didn’t have a penny in my pocket. Since I didn’t have the money to give the master, I didn’t know what to do, when a stranger came and opened it for free. I can’t describe the gratitude that I felt at that moment. God willing, I decided to learn this business that will help people a lot, and I started it,” he says.

“I refuse when in doubt”

Ismail currently works with a team of 10 people from his family. They travel to different districts of Tashkent every morning to get to the call quickly.

When asked how to check if a car really belongs to its owner or if it is not stolen, Ismail Bahodirov said that he is very careful in this regard.

“We are very careful in this regard. For example, yesterday I went to a call, and I immediately noticed that the person who called was drunk. No, brother, I will not open it today, I did not open it because if you drive away tomorrow, it could lead to serious consequences. We categorically refuse to provide services in suspicious cases. Moreover, when editing videos, I leave all the mysterious and dangerous methods out of the frame so that ill-wishers do not learn about them,” he explained.

Also, during the conversation, joyful and memorable events from the daily work process were mentioned.

“One day, a “zakaz” came from Yunusabad. When I went, the bride and groom, who were leaving the wedding hall and trying to get into the car, were locked in their car. On the wedding day, the door was locked. I arrived in 12 minutes and opened the car door. I said, "For goodness sake, don't worry." The groom and the bride were all happy," says the master.

"Sometimes we get money, sometimes we get prayers"

Ismail says that he didn't learn this profession in special training centers, but that life forced him. At first, there were difficulties, he studied different cars, even went to car dealerships as a customer and studied the structure of the locks.

"We don't have a fixed price, we talk and agree depending on the situation. But if a child is left in the car or house, it's free. We always help the disabled or elderly. We send money to people who are known for their circumstances and only receive prayers. Because a sincere prayer changes a person's fate," he emphasizes.

The incident with the old woman

Ismail was informed by a stranger that the door of an old woman living alone in one of the apartment buildings in the Mirzo Ulugbek district was locked. He went to the address and opened the door. Then the old woman living in the apartment said that she had been locked out and had not eaten for several days.

The video also mentioned that the woman's house had been transferred to the names of other individuals. After that, the National Agency for Social Protection immediately placed the case under special control, and the Prosecutor General's Office reported that the Mirzo Ulugbek district prosecutor's office had conducted an investigation before the investigation.

It turned out that L. Zhuravlyova, born in 1940, had been living alone in the apartment in the district. She was registered with a dispensary due to a number of health-related diseases.

The woman's The apartment was transferred to another person on the basis of a notarized purchase and sale agreement dated September 25, 2025. Taking into account the circumstances surrounding the woman's ability to understand the significance of her actions and control them at the time of the alienation of the apartment, as well as the need to verify whether she was a victim of a crime of fraud, a criminal case was initiated under Article 168, Part 4, Subparagraph "a" (fraud on a large scale) of the Criminal Code.