Thief returns valuables after realising house belonged to renowned Marathi writer, leaves apology note

A thief was filled with regret after realising that he had stolen valuables from the house of a renowned Marathi writer. He subsequently returned the valuables he had stolen.

The house, located in Neral in Maharashtra's Raigad district, belonged to the late Narayan Surve, a celebrated Marathi poet and social activist. Surve passed away on August 16, 2010, at the age of 84. His poetry vividly depicted the struggles of the urban working class.

Surve’s daughter Sujata and her husband Ganesh Ghare now live in the house. The thief struck when the couple was visiting their son in Virar and the house was locked for 10 days. The valuables stolen included an LED TV.  When he returned to steal more articles the next day, he noticed Surve’s photo and memorabilia in a room, the police said.

When the well-read thief realised that Surve owned the house, he felt sorry and returned all of the stolen valuables. He also pasted a small note on the wall, apologising for stealing from such a great literary figure’s house. Sujata and her husband found the note when they returned from Virar on Sunday, the police official said.

Police are carrying out further investigation based on the fingerprints found on the TV set and other articles, the official said.