Thief force-fed 48 bananas by police to recover stolen gold chain he had swallowed

Police officers in Mumbai, India, force-fed four dozen bananas to a chain-snatcher to recover a stolen gold chain he had swallowed to escape public wrath, an officer said on Saturday. The incident occurred in the Ghatkopar east fish market in the eastern suburbs late on Wednesday night when the accused, 25-year-old Gopi R. Ghaware snatched a woman's 25 gms gold chain and bolted.

As the woman screamed, some residents gave chase, pinned him down and assaulted him, breaking his nose, according to investigating officer Kailash Tirmare of Pant Nagar Police Station. A police patrol in the vicinity arrived and took charge of Ghaware, a resident of Wadala and took him to the nearby Rajawadi Hospital for treatment.



An X-ray revealed on Thursday morning that a metallic object, purportedly the stolen chain, was lying in his stomach, proof of the crime. The female victim had not yet lodged a complaint so the police interrogated Ghaware who admitted to swallowing the gold chain. Police arranged for another x-ray on Thursday evening which confirmed the earlier X-ray report.

Then they ordered a basketful of bananas and forced Ghaware to eat them. Early on Friday, he was escorted to the toilet by four policemen, who also filmed the morning ablution as the chain finally slithered out of Ghaware's system. Police ordered him to wash it with phenyl and placed him under arrest. He was produced before a magistrate on Friday and remanded to custody.