Mangaluru: The Mangaluru Police, on Saturday, returned valuables worth Rs 1,49,35,611 to the owners during a property return parade held at the Police Parade grounds. The remaining recovered items will be handed over to the owners soon, after finalization at the court. Among the items returned were jewellery, vehicles, electronic items/mobile phones, and two-wheelers.
Most of the items that were returned were stolen during thefts, chain snatching, or robberies. Usually, persons have to go through legal and administrative processes to retrieve the stolen items.
Keys to vehicles and recovered jewellery were handed over to the respective owners. “The intention is to return stolen objects to the rightful owners after they have been seized from the accused. Once the case is over or the court orders the return of the seized properties, the valuables will be handed over to the complainants,” said DCP Vinay Gaonkar.
Speaking to the media, Police Commissioner Vikas Kumar Vikash lauded the Mangaluru Police for recovering nearly Rs 5 lakh worth of valuables that were stolen from 2019 to date. “The people came to possess these items with their hard-earned money. They were happy when we returned them. Transparency in the police department plays an important role in the recovery of valuables. With the help of the latest technology, cybercrime force, and through communication on Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook, etc., it was easy to apprehend the culprits,” he said.
He added that the police are trying to introduce people-friendly policing, which will help build a relationship between the police and the citizens. “We are also coming down hard on drug dealers who are causing youngsters to get addicted to drugs and ganja and have been successful in nabbing many of such culprits. We are also in the process of cracking down on the drug smuggling chain,” he said adding that the citizens need to be more pro-active.
The Commissioner then lauded all the police personnel for their efforts in catching the culprits and recovering the stolen items and stated that they would be recognized with mementos and certificates.
The property return parade was compered by Assistant Sub Inspector Harishchandra Baikampady.
