GUWAHATI: The Assam Police recovered a heritage Hublot wristwatch of football legend Diego Maradona, which was stolen from his Dubai residence, and arrested the alleged thief in Sivasagar.
The Assam police said it was a limited edition, specially-made watch of the departed Argentine star. Maradona’s jersey number 10 and his signature are inscribed on it.
The alleged thief, a resident of Sivasagar, was employed as a domestic help at Maradona’s Dubai residence. He fled to Assam in August this year.
“The Dubai Police had shared information with an Indian federal law enforcement agency that Wazid Hussein (37) had stolen some belongings of football legend Maradona from his Dubai residence,” Sivasagar Superintendent of Police Rakesh Roushan said.
“We launched an operation last (Friday) night and managed to recover the watch from the culprit’s possession.”
A case was earlier registered with the Dubai Police. It was still not clear if the watch was stolen before or after the death of Maradona, who passed away in November 2020.
“The accused worked in Dubai since 2016. We do not know at what point in time he had stolen it. It has to be established,” the SP said, adding that the watch costs Rs 13-14 lakh.
The accused told the police it was gifted to him by a Nigerian friend but the police doubt the version. “As per the information we have received, this is not true.”
The next step would be based on how the Dubai Police want the case to be pursued. “If they want, we will have to deport him. If not, we will follow the due legal procedure here.”
Roushan also said the police had received information that some other belongings of the football legend were also stolen. He said the police were investigating this.