A thief with a conscience

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 8. Harry Alexander is a criminal by his own confession. But he turned out to be a soft-hearted thief, who returned all valuable documents found in the bags snatched by him to his victims.

After his release from jail in June last, Alexander, better known as Alex to his friends, snatched 11 bags at different places, but he invariably returned all the documents by speed post to his victims. Perhaps to prove his compassion for the victims he had even preserved all speed post receipts.

When the Afzalgunj police caught up with him this morning near Gowliguda as he was getting ready to pick his prospective victim coming out of the Imliban Bus Station, he made a clean breast of himself and led the police to his house in Sanathnagar.

The police team found some valuable documents neatly packed and ready to be posted to his latest victim. The police were also surprised to find several speed post receipts carefully preserved. Alex explained to them that he had returned a passport, a cheque worth Rs 25,000, a demand draft worth Rs 1 lakh to his victims by post.

Alex had confessed to be responsible for as many as 11 bag- snatching offences reported from Afzalgunj, Humayunnagar, Shahalibanda, Begum Bazar and Sultan Bazar police station limits. He would choose his victims among the early morning travellers who arrive at the Imliban bus station. He would only select those clutching cash bags or suitcases and travelling by cycle rickshaws. Driving a black Yamaha, incidentally stolen by him in the Humayunnagar area, he would zip past the cycle rickshaw and snatch the bag.

After returning home, he would rummage through bags and take only cash. He would discard clothes and preserve the valuable documents to be later posted to the victims, if the addresses were found. He had struck gold in his snatching escapades. One businessman who arrived in city lost 45,000 in cash and another Rs. 80,000 and yet another Rs 25,000.

The Afzalgunj Inspector, Mr. G. Jayaprasada Rao, who interrogated Alexander, quoted him as claiming that the looted money was only spent treatment of Alex's mother's reportedly suffering from breast cancer. Asked why he was returning the documents, a nonchalant Alex told police officers that he was interested in money only and that there was no point in making the victim suffer for losing valuable documents.

He told police officers that it was easy to identify the passengers carrying heavy money since they would invariably be overcautious, clutching suitcases. Alexander, who was earlier arrested in motorcycle theft cases by the Ramgopalpet and Chikkadpally police is now back in jail.

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Section  : Southern States
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