Mumbai: Colaba cops return bag with gold worth lakhs found on bonnet of car

Dattatray Wable (second from left) thanked cops for their prompt action

A Businessman's family was reunited with their lost bag containing gold worth Rs 6 lakh, thanks to the Colaba police. The cops found the bag on the bonnet of a car on April 18 and inquired if someone had lost it in temples, shops and flats, but were unable to find the owner. After five hours of concerted efforts, they tracked him.

Around 12 pm on April 18, assistant police inspector Prashant Gawade, sub-inspector Premnath Bhoi and constable Praveen Bhalerao were patrolling near the Colaba market. Upon reaching a Hanuman temple, they found a rexine bag on the bonnet of a white car. They inquired about the bag in more than 50 shops and around 100 flats, but no one knew anything.

Saris, clothes and gold
Police found saris, clothes and a jewellery box with 200 gms of gold ornaments worth R6 lakh in the bag. "There was nothing to help identify the owner," added an officer. Senior inspector Vijay Dhopavkar formed a team to trace the owner. Cops visited buildings around the temple where the bag was found. "After three hours, we got to know that one family left for their hometown in the morning. We got one of their mobile numbers but it was switched off," said API Gawade.

Bizman owner
Residents identified the probable owner as Dattatray Wable, a businessman who works at the Sassoon Docks, and had left with his family for his hometown Ahmednagar. A neighbour called Wable's nephew in Cuffe Parade. He called Wable but he refused to talk, saying he was in trouble. Colaba cops took the phone and asked the nature of the trouble.

"Wable said they had lost a bag containing gold worth Rs 6 lakh. We asked for the description of the bag and ornaments. The family gave an exact description," said Dhopavkar, adding, "We told Wable we found his bag. It came as a huge relief for him and his family." The family had forgotten the bag on a car outside the Hanuman temple while they were waiting for their cab to Ahmednagar. "We kept the other bags in the cab but forgot the one with the ornaments. This caused a huge fight in my family," Wable told cops and thanked them for their prompt action which saved the bag from going into the wrong hands.

Also read: Sunshine story: Vegetable seller returns Rs 12 lakh gold to woman

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