Mumbai: Pant Nagar cops trace Rs 82,000 cash left by priest in bus

Senior inspector Suhas Kamble hands over the money to priest Rasiklal Pandya. Pic courtesy/ Anurag Kamble

Cops of Pant Nagar police station recently traced Rs 82,850 cash which was left by a 65-year-old priest in a bus and returned it to him.

Rasiklal Pandya, a Ghatkopar (East) resident, works as a priest. When his 45-year-old daughter suffered from a back ache, the doctor suggested a surgery costing around Rs 1 lakh. Unable to pay such a sum, Pandya decided to seek small contributions from his clients.

"I visit houses for doing rituals and pooja. I called every single person for help and many of them generously donated. Finally, the sum reached Rs 82,850," said Pandya.

"On January 8 I was travelling from Sion to Kamraj Nagar and was carrying the money with me. But, when I was about to reach my house, I realized it was missing from my cloth bag" he added.

Additional Commissioner (East Region) Sanjay Darade (left) rewards constable Sachin Ganjale for tracing the money. Pic courtesy/Anurag Kamble

Pandya reached the Pant Nagar police station. He found a temple nearby, sat down and started crying. A cop noticed him and the priest told him about his ordeal.

The cop took Pandya to senior inspector Suhas Kamble who put up a team consisting of sub-inspector Amit Yadav, constables Sachin Ganjale, Prakash Shinde, Deepak Gore and Rahul Sonavane, and started investigating.

"Firstly we checked the road on which he walked after leaving the BEST bus from Kamraj Nagar and we didn't found any doubtful activity. Then we started checking for CCTV footages at the C-42 number bus. But it was difficult to check every footage, so we changed our modus operandi," said Yadav.

The cops then asked the BEST administration to give them details of buses having number C-42, which ply on the same route. Policemen found 3 bus depots from where buses had come. "When we matched the time of leaving BEST bus and time given by BEST administration of respective bus leaving their depot, we speculated that the bus in question must have come from Kala Killa Depot, Sion" said Ganjale.

Cops checked with the depot and found that one parcel was found by a bus conductor and he had deposited it in the lost property section of Wadala bus depot. On January 18, cops wrote to Wadala depot manager and asked details of the parcel. After verifying Pandya's claim, the BEST administration waited for another 10 days to check whether anyone else claimed the money. When nobody came forward, it was handed over to Pandya.

"When I received a call from cops that, money has been traced, I couldn't believe my ears. I will forever be indebted towards Mumbai Police," said Pandya.

Ganjale received a special reward from additional commissioner (east region) Sanjay Darade for tracing the money.

"Every person in our team gave their best and managed to get back the money. We are happy to help Pandya," said Kamble.