24 years after it was snatched, Mumbai woman gets her gold chain back

Manisha Lagade was robbed of the chain in 1992 when she was in collegeWhen Manisha Lagade was robbed of her gold chain in her youth in 1992 she may have put little thought in holding out hope for its return In fact she had even forgotten about it completely till she received a surprising call from the Mumbai police informing her that they had managed to retrieve it after 24 long years And she is just one of the many beneficiariesAlso read 64yearold gets her stolen chain after three monthsIn another case Atish Gaikwadrsquos stolen chain was recovered within 4 hoursOn Wednesday Zone 3 of Mumbai police returned recovered stolen property worth Rs 403 lakh to 47 residents Not just that before the deadline to exchange and deposit the old currency ran out on December 30 they even managed to recover and return Rs 3965 lakh in 21 offences to their rightful owners24 years agoWhen Lagade 45 spoke to midday she recalled the events of that fateful day ldquoAt the time I was living in Lower Parel and studying in Mahimrsquos DG Ruparel College One day sometime in winter I was returning from college when I got down from a bus and started walking home Suddenly when a bus was passing by someone touched my neck but I couldnrsquot make out what it was Then a women walking towards me told me that a man on the bus had snatched my chain I looked up and saw a young boy on the busrdquoShe added ldquoIt was the first time I had witnessed a crime and I just went numb and ran home When I saw my brother and parents I started crying and narrated the incident but they were just worried about my safety Later we went to the NM Joshi Marg police station and registered a complaint but there were mostly dead leads and we soon gave up hope of recovering it Then a few days ago I received a call from the Zone 3 office I was confused as I hadnrsquot registered any complaint but when they reminded me of my complaint in 1992 I remembered it instantly I took my younger son with me to receive the chain Itrsquos a 10 gram gold chainrdquo said ManishaAnother success storyBut herersquos another success story on the other side of the pendulum While it took 24 years to recover Lagadersquos chain there was another that was recovered within four hours Atish Gaikwad an employee in an ad agency recalls ldquoI was returning from a party and walking home in Mumbai Central when I stopped to answer naturersquos call Suddenly two boys on a bike approached me mdashone of them tried to snatch the chain the other wanted my wallet I fought back and managed to hold on to my wallet but they managed to grab the chain I immediately contacted the Mumbai police control room and got help immediately And within 4 hours the Nagpada police also caught the two thievesrdquoCops sayExplaining how Lagadersquos chain came to be returned Pravin Padwal DCPacircu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Zone 3 said ldquoHer chain had been recovered a few months after it was stolen 24 years ago but due to inaccuracies in the description its original owner was difficult to trace It was only six months ago that we renewed our hunt for the owner and traced it back to LagaderdquoHe went on to add ldquoReturning of property is very lengthy process we had started work on it in October 2016 We first shortlisted the complainants whose property we recovered Then after we informed them about its recovery those who got in touch with us hired a advocate for the approvals We then got the No Objection Certificate from the court and returned the valuablesrdquo added Padwal