A well-read thief asked returned all the valuables that he stole from the residence of renowned Marathi poet Narayan Surve and asked for forgiveness.
Surve, who died on August 16, 2010 aged 84 years, was a celebrate Marathi poet and social activist.
The thief stole an LED television, some groceries, a five-litre cooking oil can, box of cooking masalas, a table fan, a brass lamp and some taps and faucets from the bathroom at Surve's house in Raigad's Neral.
The residence, now occupied by Surve's daughter Sujata and her husband, was locked for around 10 days as the two had gone to Virar to be with their son.
Seeing the perfect opportunity, the thief broke into the Surve house and stole the valuables It was when he returned to steal some more things that he noticed Surve's photo and memorabilia placed in a room.
Immediately regretting his actions, the thief returned all the times that he stole and left a small note on a wall.
His note, written in Marathi, read, "I did not know that this was the home of Narayn Surve, else I would have never stolen from here. Forgive me! I am returning some of the things that I have stolen including the television. Sorry," Hindustan Times quoted.
Sujata and her husband found the note in their house upon their return from Virar on Sunday, said Neral police station's inspector Shivaji Dhavle.
A case under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita Sections 305, 331(3) and 331(4) has been registered against the unknown thief.
Sujata told HT that they it seemed that they have stolen salt, rice, masalas and a few kilos of various dals from the kitchen, however they have not mentioned these things in the FIR. The thief has promised to return rest of the stuff as well in his note, she added.
Born in Mumbai, Narayan Surve's poetry depicts the struggles of the urban working class. Through his work, Surve glorified labour and challenged the established literary norms in Marathi literature.
Before becoming the famous Marathi poet that he was, Surve had grown up as an orphan on the streets of Mumbai. He survived by working as a domestic help, a dishwasher in a hotel, a babysitter, a pet-dog caretaker, a milk delivery boy, a porter and a mill hand.
(With PTI inputs)
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