UK athlete's dreams crash after robbery

Herial Benwalker (65), who ran the Mumbai marathon, was robbed of nine bronze medals, valuables and nearly Rs 1 lakh that he had collected to participate in the Dubai Marathon later this year

Herial Benwalker (65), who ran the Mumbai marathon, was robbed of nine bronze medals, valuables and nearly Rsu00a06 lakh that he had collected to participate in the u00a0Dubai Marathon later this year

Au00a0real sport: Herial Benwalker has run 144 marathons

Herial Patrick Benwalker (65) travelled all the way from Britain to participate in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. But since he wasn't one of the elite athletes, the British national had to arrange for his own accommodation.

The veteran of 144 marathons and his wife chose to spend the night of January 12 at Kurla Terminus with their belongings.

However, when Benwalker woke up the next day, all his valuables were stolen.

Passport lost too

This included nine bronze medals, $11,500 (Rs 5.6 lakh) and Rs 38,000 in cash, two mobile phones, passport, a camera, a lifetime free family air travel pass for London-New York-London and official papers.

Benwalker says he had converted his money to dollars to participate in the Dubai Marathon later this year, but now, his dreams are shattered.

A case is of theft has been registered under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code. However, when Benwalker registered an FIR with the police station that day, he did not mention the dollars. He only stated that he came to Mumbai from Mangalore on January 11.

But when he visited the Kurla Railway Police station on February 4 wearing a medal given by the organisers of the Mumbai marathon to register a supplementary statement, he mentioned the value of the missing dollars.

Sub inspector K S Nade who was on duty at the station that day even suggested to the British national to keep his luggage in the cloakroom, but he refused.

There are also unanswered questions about Benwalker's decision to stay at the station despite carrying so much cash. The police say they are trying to probe the inconsistencies in the case.

Senior Inspector M D Pawar said, "Three police teams are trying to crack the case. We are also trying to ascertain why Benwalker and his wife chose to stay at the station when they could have lived in a hotel. We are trying to find out if the claims made by the complainant are true."