Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, May 1: In a heart-warming story, one that brings to fore the humane side of the police department, a thief suffering from AIDS, who was rejected by family, was brought back to health from the jaws of death, and as a gesture of gratitude, the thief in turn helped the cops solve over a hundred cases and recover 10 kg of gold.
As per a report published by Bangalore Mirror, Murugan, a notorious thief who has committed over a hundred burglaries and robberies in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, gave up the crime world after he was afflicted by HIV-positive. He eluded the cops for almost eight years, till he was finally found frail and bedridden by the Banaswadi police recently.
Murugan, born in Thiruvarur in Trichy, looted many a house and even banks across the southern states. He was arrested in 2008 in Madiwala, only to be released on bail. He once again took to robberies, causing much headache to the police, who, despite CCTV images from various crime spots, could not lay their hands on him.
Bangalore Mirror reports that it was after Mirza Ali took over as sub-inspector of Banaswadi police station that things took a different turn. Determined to hunt Murugan down, Ali scanned through hundreds of CCTV images obtained over the years and finally found evidence of Murugan in the act. Armed with specific time and date of the burglary, the cops went through a long list of mobile phone calls that bounced off a nearby tower, and finally zeroed-in on a number. A deeper investigation into the number led the cops to Murugan's hometown.
At Murugan's house, the police learnt that he had left home years ago and taken to crime. However, last year, after finding out that he had AIDS, Murugan was brought back to his home by members of his gang, but the family turned him out. Without medication, his health deteriorated rapidly, and he was finally admitted to a hospital, but the treatment was just basic.
Murugan before and after
The cops followed the trail and eventually found Murugan on the deathbed. Doctors said Murugan had just a week to live, but sub-inspector Ali was not the one to give up. Wasting no time, the Bengaluru police got a court order to take Murugan under their care, with the assurance that he would be given proper treatment and nursed back to health. He was then taken to Bengaluru.
"As soon as the police - led by additional Commissioner (East) P Harishekaran; DCP, (East) Satish Kumar; and subdivision ACP Badrinath - brought Murugan to Bengaluru, the first thing they did was book an AC ICU ward and have him admitted. The hospital started treating Murugan to get his physical condition up to some semblance of health, while his HIV was treated at Bowring hospital," stated the Bangalore Mirror report.
After two months of round-the-clock care, Murugan slowly and steadily began to respond and recovered some semblance of health. Meanwhile, the cops convinced his family to visit him in the hospital, which further boosted his health as well as spirit.
Touched by the care given by the police and the doctors who treated him, and perhaps feeling guilty about his misdeeds, he returned the favour by narrating all that the police wanted to know about the burglaries he had committed. "We started talking to him and he did too after seeing the kindness of the police," said an officer involved in the case to Bangalore Mirror.
Thereafter, taking Murugan with them, the cops traversed the length and breadth of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, visiting all the places Murugan had plundered and sold or pledged the loot. An ambulance and a nurse were hired to look after Murugan during the journey.
By the end of their hunt for stolen valuables, the Banaswadi police recovered about 10 kg of gold, and in the process, solved over a hundred cases. The valuables were returned to the rightful owners. Murugan also led the police on to his former partners in crime, who were arrested and jailed, reports Bangalore Mirror.