Thief returns stolen TV on finding the house belonged to famous Marathi poet Narayan Surve

Mumbai: A thief was overcome with guilt on learning that the house he burgled belonged to a famous Marathi poet Narayan Surve at Neral in Raigad district in Maharashtra. Soon, he returned some of the stolen articles like an LED TV.

According to a news report on Indian Express, Surve died on August 16, 2010, at the age of 84 years. He wrote poems highlighting the struggles of the urban working class.

The thief returning the stolen items could lead the police to him as they are going through the fingerprints on it, besides scanning the CCTV footage of that place.

Surve's daughter Sujata Ghare and her husband Ganesh Ghare, who are living in the house, had gone to Virar to visit their son on June 26.

On July 14, they received a call from their neighbours saying that the toilet window had been broken and indicated about the possibility of a theft.

Soon the couple rushed home and found several things missing from the house.

"We have a big photo of my father on the wall. On the pillar next to the wall, we found a note written by the thief."

The note read, "I was not aware that the house belonged to Narayan Surve, or else I would have never stolen from there. I have returned the LED TV I stole. Sorry," Ghare said.

"He returned the TV but there are several other things that are still missing. Those missing include eight taps, cooking powder, table fan, utensils and a five-litre bottle of Suryaful cooking oil. We then approached the local police station."

Police said that they had registered an FIR and were investigating the case. "We collected fingerprints on the LED TV and CCTV footage and will trace the accused soon."

The police believe that the thief may have entered the house a couple of times and that he realized that the house belonged to the poet, during the latest burglary attempt, after seeing his photograph.

Surve was born in Mumbai. Before he became a famous Marathi poet, he had grown up as an orphan on Mumbai streets.

Then he worked as a domestic help, a dishwasher in a hotel, a babysitter, a pet-dog caretaker and even delivered milk to survive.