A few months back, it was a
thief with a golden heart who took a call on the mobile he had stolen and returned LIC bonds, KVPs etc – not valuables that he needed to run his family – to school teacher Kartik Mandal.
A couple of days back, it was Jayanta Gupta of Kamardanga, 24 Parganas, who showed a fine example of Gandhigiri.
Two teenage thieves, Bablu Mistry and Tapas Das, sneaked into Gupta's house when he was away. They were caught stealing by neighbours who beat them, tied them up and informed Gupta.
When Gupta, on return, heard them say that it was their first crime, committed because they could not get two square meals a day, he untied them and
treated them to sandesh and rosogulla, banana and bread.
And then he set them free.
A couple of months back, thieves broke into a shop in Churu, Rajasthan and, instead of breaking open the
1.4 ton safe containing Rs 17 lakhs, they simply uprooted it and took it away.
That smart trick probably inspired thieves in Meeraganj, Jabalpur. In the early hours of Sunday, they apparently drugged security guard Khangar Razzak and then
took away the ATM of the Union Bank of India. The Superintendent of Police says that the ATM was not properly installed. He also 'revealed' that it would have taken 7-8 persons and a vehicle to do the job because the machine weighed around 450 kgs.
The amount looted? Rs 1.65 lakhs. Or Rs 20,000 per thief. Sure they must be wondering now whether that will be enough to even pay off friendly cops to let them go, should they be spotted.
He may not be Robin Hood, but this thief does have a heart of gold and an honesty that you would not associate with someone who robs others.
School teacher Kartik Mandal of Chapra village, Nadia, West Bengal, found
his house burgled on Monday morning. A thief had taken everything valuable that he had. Crestfallen, he could do little except to keep calling on his cell number. Finally, the man who took his call declined to return Mandal's stolen belongings because he needed them to run his family.
Mandal then requested him to return at least the LIC bonds, KVPs and other documents that he had taken. The thief, to his utter surprise, agreed and asked him to collect them from a place.
Mandal rushed to the spot and found all that he had asked for kept there in a packet!
Why break a safe if you can take it? So what if it weighs 1.5 tons!
That's exactly what
thieves did in a jeweller's shop in the main market of Churu in Rajasthan at around 3 AM last Saturday. After breaking into the shop quietly by opening six different locks, the thieves uprooted the safe containing jewellery worth Rs 17 lakhs, put it in a jeep and sped away!
Shopkeepers living opposite were woken up by the noise made by the safe as it was being loaded into the getaway jeep. Even though they shouted and others also came out on hearing the commotion, the thieves got away.
The Police arrived late, as always, and showed little interest in investigating.
The thieves, who have yet to be caught, must have by now broken the safe open in a safe place!
