Drug Addict Thief Steals Lakhs From Temple, But His Autorickshaw Driver Father Returns It

Anger melted into empathy among office bearers of the Mandai temple trust the day after the Rs 44 lakh jewellery heist, when the father of the thief walked into Kothrud police station to return part of the loot that he could recover from his son, Tanaji Kundle.

The road to recovery

Members of the Akhil Mandai Ganpati Mandal have now decided to felicitate Narayan Kundle, the father, for his integrity, during the upcoming Ganpati festival and help put Tanaji on the road to recovery after he serves time. The mandal has offered to get him counselling sessions with experts and check him into a de-addiction centre till he is able to clean up his act.

Instant punishment, instant forgiveness

Tanaji stole jewellery from the famous Sharada Gajanan idols on Wednesday, in an inebriated state. After committing the crime, he stepped into his house adorned with a fraction of the loot. On seeing this, his 60-year-old father, an autorickshaw driver, who can barely make ends meet, snatched away the loot and unable to stem his anger, dealt him bodily blows. Following this altercation and duel, Tanaji fled from his home.

The next day, even as angry texts were doing the rounds on the mandal's messaging app, Narayan walked into the nearest police station and came clean about his son's crime. When news of this noble act got out, the members of the trust had a change of heart and decided to dwell on corrective measures for the wayward son.

He makes Rs. 500 a day, but couldn't bear this theft

However, this was no act of bravery for Narayan. "I did what my conscience asked me to do. I followed my heart. Why should I keep something that does not belong to me? That's why I decided to hand over the loot to the cops," said Narayan, who makes Rs 500 a day; less on lean days. "We are poor but we are not criminal. I could not bear to think that my son had committed a theft." He could barely sleep that night, wondering from where his son may have committed such an expensive theft. He joined the dots immediately the next morning, when reports of the theft at the famous temple were splashed in newspapers. "I remembered that my son was wearing the same necklace that decorated the deity. My son had erred, and as a father, I had to come clean to the cops," he said.

The hapless but proud father wanted to hand over his son to the police as well, only he had not returned home after receiving a few lashes from his father the previous night. While Narayan accepts his son's fault, he believes that he is not a criminal, but just a victim of addiction. "My son lost his way due to a severe addiction to alcohol and drugs. He is a good plumber but he has lost everything in his life, thanks to this habit. While society blames him for his wrongs - and I don't blame it for holding that view of him - I feel he can be weaned away from the addiction if someone shows him some sympathy," added Narayan.

Now the temple is helping him change his life

His unspoken plea was heard by members of the mandal that decided on Friday to rehabilitate Tanaji. Said Anna Thorat, president of the Akhil Mandai Ganpati Mandal, "We held a lot of anger towards that thief. But after hearing Tanaji's life story, we felt pity for him. He is not a criminal by intent, but the addiction had driven him to crime. The mandal has decided to help him come out of this phase."

Tanaji is in police custody at present for the theft and will be facing a trial in court. "After he serves his punishment, we will admit him to a deaddiction centre and help him with counselling sessions," he said, applauding the father's honesty and integrity. "We learnt that his father was scared to approach the volunteers of the mandal, while declaring his son's crime, fearing a backlash. But, we are all touched by his honesty and will felicitate him on the auspicious occasion of Ganpati festival," concluded Thorat. "We held a lot of anger towards that thief. But after hearing Tanaji's life story we felt pity for him. He is not a criminal by intent, but the addiction had driven him to crime."

(Originally published in the Pune Mirror)