Pramesh S Jain
Somaya thanked the police for recovering the medals and other belongings.“I feel like I have won the medals all over again,”he said.
Eight sporting medals,including a 1980 Moscow Olympic gold medal,stolen last month from the residence of former hockey player MM Somaya in east Bengaluru’s New Thippasandra,have been recovered, the city police said on Wednesday, announcing the arrest of two suspects.
The recovered medals include the Olympic gold medal won at the 1980 Moscow Games,a silver medal from the 1982 Asian Games,a bronze medal from the 1986 Seoul Asian Games,a bronze medal from the 1982 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam and a gold medal from the Loiano tournament in Italy.
The collection also included participation medals from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics,besides a silver medal associated with the 300th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh.
Police also recovered a Kodagu dagger,a camera and an Olympic kit bag,along with the two-wheeler allegedly used to commit the offence.
The theft took place when Somaya and his family were away in their native Kodagu district.
According to the complaint filed on October 28,the family had left Bengaluru on October 25.
When they returned,they found that the front door lock had been broken and unidentified persons had entered the house and stolen the medals,gold and silver articles and cash.
The Indiranagar police registered a case and formed eight special teams under the supervision of DCP (East) Dr Vikram Amate and the leadership of Halasuru Sub-Division ACP Balakrishna C.During interrogation,the accused revealed that they had sold one gold medal and one silver medal to a gold-buying company in Rajajinagar.
The remaining six medals and other stolen articles had been kept at the residence of one of the accused near H. Cross in Hoskote.
The police recovered the two medals from the Rajajinagar establishment and the remaining six medals, Kodagu dagger,camera and Olympic bag from the accused’s residence.
Police said the theft was a random selection,with the accused allegedly breaking into the house without knowing the significance and value of the medals.
Efforts are on to trace the third accused,who remains absconding.
‘I feel like winning the medals all over again.
Expressing gratitude to the Bengaluru City Police, Somaya thanked the City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and the entire police team for recovering his prized possessions.
“I am particularly thankful to the Indiranagar Police Inspector,who reassured me from day one that the valuables would be recovered.I feel like winning the medals all over again,”Somaya said.
City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for the police team for cracking the case.
The operation was carried out by teams led by Indiranagar Inspector Anand N.,Hennur Inspector Balraj and Shivajinagar Inspector Somashekar,along with CCTV and technical analysis teams, crime records personnel and teams tracking stolen property.
The investigation is continuing to recover the remaining stolen property and apprehend the absconding accused.
