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29 March 2024

Thief returns Sharjah grocery owner’s passport

Published
By VM Sathish

An Indian grocery owner in Sharjah heaved a sigh of relief after an apparently honest thief returned a passport that he stole from the Al Nahda shop along with cash and other valuables.

Abdul Gafoor Haji, in his 50s, was a worried man after his grocery shop, Jadaf Grocery, located in Al Nahda area of Sharjah, was robbed last week and its glass window smashed open.

“The shop was robbed at around 2am and the thief was sporting a cap and shades. As he has been captured on the closed circuit television, he was seen checking a leather bag kept inside the cash drawer. He checked all the documents kept there, such as the shop’s trade licence and other papers. He took Dh1,000 currency notes, coins and the passport which was kept inside the same bag,” said an employee of Al Jadaf Grocery.

“It seems he was an honest thief because he kept the trading licence and other important documents and was interested only in the money. It is clear from the closed circuit television footage that he was particular about leaving behind the documents in the shop itself,” said the employee.

Among the items stolen from the grocery were Dh1,000, coins, telephone cards and the passport of the grocery owner.

“Twenty-four hours after the shop was robbed, the stolen passport was found in a plastic bag hanging on the window of the adjacent Khalfan Rumi Mosque. Out of curiosity, someone checked the hanging bag and found the passport of the grocery owner Abdul Gafoor and the same was handed over to him,” said sources familiar with the incident.

Apparently, an employee of a bakery in the area found the abandoned passport and decided to put it in a plastic bag and hang it on the mosque’s window.

The grocery owner was grateful to the bakery’s employee and the thief for leaving behind crucial documents, especially the trade licence of the shop and abandoning the stolen passport a day after the robbery.

“The grocery owner was about to apply for a new passport. After the robbery was reported to the nearest police station, they are waiting for the thief to be apprehended. The grocery store owner is very happy that his passport was returned,” added another employee of the grocery shop.

Image via Shutterstock

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