The Mumbai police has taken six individuals into custody in a theft related to the TATA Mumbai Marathon 2024 gold medals. Mistaking them for actual gold, the accused are believed to have stolen around 2,200 medals that were lying around in tents at the Bombay Gymkhana ground. The police confirmed that the individuals in question were arrested on Sunday, January 22, 2024. (More Marathon News)
The six, as per news agencies, have been identified as follows: Vignesh Tevar, 20, Naseer Shaikh, 24, Piramal Volenteer, 25, Ganesh Salunkhe, 24, Rohit Vijay Singh, 23, and Amir Shaikh, 26.
According to testimonies of the police officials, the six in question were inspected by the patrolling officers around the race venue, once the event had already begun. Attempting to avoid the police, the individuals raised suspicions and were caught with medals in their sacks. It is believed that the accused had been hired by the organisers to help set up the event.
“The labourers were engaged in installing tents and fixing banners. The accused thought the medals were made of gold and decided to steal them,” recalled Pravin Munde, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, in an interview with the Hindustan Times.
Once caught, the police informed the Mumbai Marathon organisers, who promptly lodged a complaint to fast-track an investigation into the missing medals. While the six caught only yielded 62 medals - thought to be worth close to 1.5 lakhs INR - a total of 162 boxes with 2,200 medals were revealed to be missing.
