Two days after stealing a jeep from Padaveduamman Koil Street in Thottapalayam in Vellore, a thief abandoned the vehicle opposite Kaveripakkam bus stand with an ‘apology’ letter to the vehicle owner. The miscreant also pleaded with the police not to look for him otherwise he would end his life.
Murugan (32), a native of Ezhil Nagar in Thrapadi, had parked his jeep in front of his friend Baskaran’s house at Padaveduamman Koil Street in Thottapalayam on May 23 to take him and his family to a temple near Thiruthani on the next day. However, he was shocked to see his jeep missing early on Friday.
“I woke up around 3 am on Friday, only to see that my jeep was stolen. I filed a case with the North Police the same day,” Murugan said. On Sunday, the police informed him that the Kaveripakkam police had found his vehicle.
Interestingly, the thief had left a hand written note in the front seat of the vehicle, pleading for Murugan’s apology. “The shop owner of Elumalai Timbers opposite the bus stand alerted us Sunday afternoon that a jeep was parked near his shop for over four hours. The doors remained open,” said Special Sub- Inspector (SSI) of Kaveripakkam Station N Raghuraman.
The police found a note stating, “I have committed a grave crime by stealing the vehicle. I feel guilty. The vehicle belongs to Murugan and it should be returned to him.” The miscreant had mentioned half of the vehicle number, ‘TN 23 BA’ in the letter. The thief wrote that he would end his life, if the police looked for him, said Raghuraman. He had broken the side windows, switches and removed the number plate of the vehicle. The police, after cross-checking the vehicle missing cases reported in the district, identified it as that of Murugan. “The miscreant drove the vehicle for nearly 300 km since it was stolen. The original vehicle registration certificate is also missing,” said Murugan. Police said they would hand over the vehicle to the court. Later it will be handed over to the vehicle owner.