Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Jun 7: G V Smitha, a native of Tamil Nadu is a 24-year-old ordinary yet pretty girl, settled in Bangalore for more than a decade now. She has an MBA degree in marketing from a well-known institution in Bangalore. Her dream was to support her mother and brother by getting a job with some multinational company.
But then her path meandered and so did her dreams. She became a pickpocket by profession, and is now a guest of the Bangalore police!
Leading posh lives and spending thousands of rupees every day is common among the young generation. Provided parents can afford it, children roam around in sleek cars, wear branded clothes and get enough pocket money to spend and waste. But having lost her father at a young age, Smitha could not afford any of the luxuries, and her mother had to work as a maid in bunglows to support her education and that of her brother.
But then Smitha was attracted to and impressed by her spendthrift friends who had pocketful of money. "One day I found a purse with some Rs 3,000 on the street, and that inspired me to take up pickpocketing," confessed Smitha before the Bangalore police when she was caught.
She was very sharp and quick in switching wallets from others' pockets to hers. She would climb the bus while going to college, and without anybody's knowledge flick wallets and purses from men's trousers or ladies' bags, and then get down at the next stop. She would then climb another bus and do the same thing. In a day she would pick at least three pockets.
She has been in this pickpocket 'business' for the last couple of years, but was never caught until now!
Armed with other people's hard-earned money, she imitated the lifestyle of rich students, and became friendly with four or five boys, spending lavishly with them. Lunch or dinner at five star hotels, movies at multiplexes every week, sponsoring petrol for friends' bikes, staying at luxury hotels, and even lending money to her brother and mother - this is how she led her life, and yet no one doubted her.
On Wednesday June 6, a person who lost his wallet lodged a complaint with the police, and expressed his doubts on Smitha, because he had seen her in the bus a few times. Acting on his suspicion, police took her for interrogation, and found that she was indeed the culprit. Bangalore's Banasawadi police station head constable played a prime role in cracking the case.
Police recovered cash and gold worth Rs 8 lac from Smitha.
Call it fate or lust for luxury, a qualified MBA graduate who was supposed to be managing a company ended up mismanaging her own life!