Honest shopkeeper returns Rs 30K stolen money to retd teacher

Aurangabad, Dec 7:

A juvenile thief was held and later on released after an honest shopkeeper returns the money stolen from the dickey of a retired teacher's motorcycle in Gangapur. The incident took place in broad daylight.

It so happened that the retired teacher of Malunja village (in Gangapur tehsil), Balasaheb Sonawane (62), withdrew Rs 30,000 from his account in a nationalised bank situated at town's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk. He kept the money in his bike's dickey and started to ride. In the meantime, the 11-year old boy attempted to steal the money from the dickey. Sonawane noticed this while he was taking a turn on the vehicle. He screamed for help. The boy got panicked and he fled away from the spot leaving the bundles of cash. However, Sonawane did not notice this. Instead, he chased the boy on his bike and held him. The boy claimed that he is not carrying the stolen money as he had thrown it at the turning place.

The incident took place in front of Madhukar Dande's store. Dande on seeing the money lying on the road kept the money with him. When Sonawane and the minor boy returned to the spot, Dande handed him the money. The juvenile thief is a Hindi speaker and hails from Madhya Pradesh. The boy informed that he is single and nobody is with him. Sonawane then released the minor without handing him to the police. Sonawane also thanked Dande for his kind gesture of returning the money.