Nerul police trace, find bag with ₹6L worth valuables in 2 hours

Nerul Police traced and found a bag containing 10 tolas of gold worth ?5.50 lakh and ?16,000 in cash, which was left behind in an auto rickshaw within two hours.

Navi Mumbai: It took the quick-thinking Nerul Police only two hours to trace and find a bag, which contained 10 tolas (116 grams) of gold worth ₹5.50 lakh and ₹16,000 in cash, of a Juinagar resident, who had left it behind in an auto rickshaw.

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Fifty-year-old Surekha Phulse, who had returned from her hometown after attending a marriage, was shocked to find one of her bags containing the valuables missing. She had alighted from a bus at the LP bus stop, Nerul, on Sunday and then hired an auto rickshaw to her residence.

On reaching home, she realised that she had left behind her bag, which contained the valuables, in the auto rickshaw. Worried, Phulse, a home maker, rushed to Nerul police station.

“When she came to us, our first assumption was that she had left the bag behind in the auto rickshaw. We started to trace the auto. Keeping in mind the amount of cash and jewellery in the bag, we didn’t waste any time and reached LP bus stop to find the auto.

“In one CCTV footage, we spotted the bag falling off the auto rickshaw. There was damage to the outer hood of the auto and the bag fell out of it. The footage then showed an unidentified man picking up the bag. The man was clad in what appears to be a watchman’s uniform,” API Khade said.

A police team reached the spot where the bag had fallen off and traced the man, who picked it up. “He was the watchman of a society near the complainant’s house and had kept the bag safely. He said that he was intending to come to the police station to hand it over. He had not opened the bag and was unaware of its contents,” Khade added.

“Due to the prompt action by our team, the bag with valuables was traced within no time. I am extremely proud of the team’s efforts,” said senior police Tanaji Bhagat from Nerul police station.