A man from Uttarakhand who was in Bengaluru recently for work ended up losing his bag while travelling in an TNSTC (Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation) bus. He had placed his luggage -- containing Rs 30,000 in cash, a laptop and a Samsung tablet -- in the overhead rack and it was allegedly stolen.
Mukesh Pawar, a certified mountain guide from Sidri village in Uttarakhand was in Salem, Tamil Nadu, to install and certify a rope course for a client. His bags were stolen when he was travelling from Salem to Bengaluru and he noticed that his luggage was missing when he reached Majestic. Pawar was supposed to board a flight from Bengaluru to Delhi, but due to the commotion, he ended up missing it.
An FIR has been registered and Pawar's friends have also sought help from social media users to trace the bags and the devices.
The incident was brought to light after a friend of Pawar's uncle, Anand Sankar, shared the story on X.
"After finishing the work, he (Pawar) took a TNSTC bus from Salem to Bangalore on the evening of February 12, 2024 to catch a flight to Delhi on February 13th. Since the bus was overcrowded, he had to keep his luggage on an overhead rack a little further back than where he was sitting," Sankar wrote, adding that the youth from Uttarakhand had kept a watchful eye on the bags at all stops until Hosur and after it crossed the border to halt at Attibele. The next stop was Electronic City.
"A lot of passengers were getting down at this stop and there was commotion. The time was past 11 pm. In the darkness he momentarily lost sight of his bags. When he had to alight at Majestic, to his horror, he found that both his bags were missing," Sankar said.
Pawar found little help from the TNSTC bus staff who suggested he approach the Majestic police station. But since the bags were last seen at Electronic City, he was asked to visit the Electronic City police station but it took multiple efforts for the police to file an FIR.
"They were not interested in even trying to communicate with him in Hindi," Sankar said. "They told him to go and file a complaint in Majestic! They refused to hear Mukesh or even attempt to talk to the police in Majestic. Poor Mukesh went back to Majestic, again they shooed him back to Electronic City! Not one policeman offered to communicate with him and listen to his story."
After multiple back and forth, and after help from social media, an FIR was finally registered with the Electronic Police. But while rushing from one police station to the other, Pawar missed his flight to Delhi.
"He was left with only Rs 600 and thankfully his phone. He called his relatives who sent money to buy a ticket for the next flight," Sankar added.
Pawar has safely reached Dehradun but he says his worst loss were his certificates.
"All his educational and professional certificates and his driving licence (were in the bags),' Sankar wrote. "This loss hurts him the most as he is a freelancer and every company he works with has to verify his original mountaineering certificate before expeditions."
Pawar and Sankar are hoping that the police would be able to retrieve the original certificates while they apply for duplicates.
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