Hyderabad, Aug 18 (IANS): It's proving to be a long wait for police here as a thief who swallowed a four-tola gold chain three days ago is yet to excrete the same, officials said on Tuesday.

The staff at Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, are also engaged in the unpleasant job of examining the faeces of the 22-year-old chain snatcher.

Police said the doctors at the government-run hospital were feeding bananas and other laxatives to the thief named Vikas to recover the chain.

The youngster snatched the chain from a 55-year-old housewife when she had gone for an evening walk with her husband near Sitaphalmandi railway station on Saturday.

The couple lodged a complaint with Secunderabad railway police. The same night, police found Vikas moving under suspicious circumstances at Secunderabad railway station.

Fearing that he may be caught red-handed, Vikas swallowed the gold chain.

Police took him to a hospital, where a scan report proved that the chain was in his stomach.

Police produced the accused before a magistrate along with the scan report. On the direction of the magistrate, he was admitted to Gandhi Hospital on Sunday.

A police officer said they were waiting for the man to naturally expel the chain as doctors feel that a surgery to extricate the same may prove risky.