22 September,2011 08:43 AM IST | | Vinay Dalvi
18-yr-old had cops feeding him bananas and scrutinising his toilet breaks for 6 days, until he discharged the chain he had consumed to get rid of evidence
If you can't dispose of it, devour it, thought the young chain snatcher in a bid to get rid of the spoils of his misadventure, as he was cornered by a crowd of people after he grabbed a gold chain from a woman's neck.
And he did. But for the six days that followed, his swallowing brought him down on his, well, haunches, and put cops in a tight spot.
For, all his calls to nature were scrutinised by the watchful eyes of cops, who were waiting for him to discharge what he gobbled.
The incident happened on September 18, when pedestrians caught 18-year-old Ajay Tribhuvandas Soni, after he seized the gold chain of Sangeeta Chavan, owner of a milk centre, at Lake Road in Bhandup.
A desperate Soni tried to destroy the evidence by ingesting it, even as he was hauled to the Bhandup police station where he was booked on the charges of chain snatching.
At the station, he kept cops busy for hours, frantically searching for the gold chain on him, instead of in him.
Then, on a hunch, they got him X-rayed. The reports only validated their suspicion. He had gulped the gold.
Retrieving it was going to be tricky, but it had to be done.
Senior Inspector Shrirang Nadgauda said, "Evidence is the most important aspect in any case. Though, there were eyewitness, we had to make sure that we recover the chain from the accused, as it helps make a strong case. Also, had the chain got stuck inside him, it would have caused damage to his body."
Added another official, "So we admitted him in a hospital, and posted two constables to ensure that he does not try to destroy the evidence by crapping it out and flushing it in the toilet."
As per information provided by eyewitnesses, Soni was escorted to the Mulund general hospital. After examining him, doctors informed the policemen that the gold chain had got wedged somewhere on the right side of Soni's chest. They advised that the accused be shifted to Sion hospital.
To keep Soni under constant surveillance, two constables were stationed close to his bed to keep a watch on him each time he went to the washroom. Meanwhile, cops offered Soni a good diet of bananas and rice, which aids in trouble-free passage of indigestible elements.
"We had to get X-rays of his chest before and after every time he went to the toilet, just to make sure he had not flushed the gold chain. After almost six days of his custody, Soni ejected the gold chain," said Sub-inspector Santosh Gaikwad.
As the exuded property was returned to its rightful owner, cops have detained Soni in their custody.
