Chennai thief hitches ride from man whose house he robbed. What happened next

Hitching a ride turned out to be bad luck for a thief in Chennai (Representative Image)

A comedy of errors played out in Chennai when a man riding to the police station to report the theft of gold jewellery from his house gave a ride to a passerby - who turned out to be the very thief that had targeted his house.

According to a Times of India report, the thief, identified as 44-year-old Umar, broke into a house near Avadi, Chennai, on Monday morning and decamped with four sovereigns of gold jewellery.

While fleeing the scene of the crime, he hitched a ride from a biker, Jenin Rajadas, without realising that Rajadas was the man he had just robbed.

Rajadas, 34, had by this time already discovered the theft of gold and was on his way to lodge a police complaint. He gave Umar a ride but grew suspicious when he noticed a large bunch of keys on the hitchhiker.

The burglar also seemed unfamiliar with the area, which heightened Rajadas’ suspicion. He stopped his bike after travelling only a short distance and began questioning Umar with the help of some locals. That is when both parties realised that Umar had struck Rajadas’ house.

Police said that the burglar would disguise himself as a cotton candy seller to recce the houses he could target. On Monday morning, he zeroed in on Rajadas’ house and struck when the homeowner and his wife stepped out to shop.

When Rajadas returned to his house after 30 minutes, he found the main door and an almirah had been broken, and gold jewellery worth lakhs had been stolen from him. He immediately set off for the police station and, by a strange turn of fate, met his thief on his way there.

Umar reportedly tried to escape once his crime was discovered by locals managed to catch him. He was handed over to Avadi Tank factory police.