Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Manaluru, Nov 19: In a curious occurence, the volunteers under the aegies of Ramakrishna Mission who were engaged in a cleanliness drive near Thokkottu bus stand on Sunday November 19 found a number of empty wallets.

The Ramakrishna Mission in association with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), organized the 'Swachha Ullal Swaccha Bharat' drive in 10 places under Ullal limits.

The programme was inaugurated by Sri Ekagavyananda Swamiji at Jai Veera Maruti gymnasium. Permannur villagers joined hands with Ramakrishna Mission in this operation.

Municipal commissioner Vani Alva, RSS leaders P S Prakash, K T Suvarna and Satish Kumpala, president of the gymnasium, Vishwanath Mendon, Yashwanth Ameen, Dayananda Thokkottu, Ganesh Kapikad, Suraj, Vinod Ullal and a large number of activists were present at the inaugural.

During the cleanliness operation undertaken near Thokkottu bus stand, the volunteers found as many as nine empty wallets while clearing rubbish under a tree. It is suspected that these were thrown away under a tree by pickpockets after collecting their contents.

While one wallet contained an ATM card, others had Aadhaar cards, voter id and ration card.

The Aadhaar cards carried the name of Lata Kodikal and Radhakrishna. When contacted based on the information on the card, Radhakrishna said that Lata's wallet was stolen somewhere between Chembugudde and Thokkottu while she was returning from a hospital in Deralakatte. The thieves took away her mobile phone and cash which were in the wallet, and threw it away with their documents intact. No case was registered. Lata recalled that when she was in the bus, four women who had climbed the bus midway had dashed against her. It is suspected that women might have been part of a gang of pickpockets.

The volunteers then returned the wallet to Radhakrishna and Lata.

In another wallet, an ATM card belonging to one Priya Mishra was found.

Bhagat Singh Foundation president Jeevan Kumar Thokkottu, Praveen Kumpala, Purushotham Kallapu, retired police officer Balakrishna Gowda were part of the volunteer group that returned the wallets to their rightful owners.

It is suspected that the wallets were stolen by a gang that is active in Ullal of late. The fact that outsiders who fall victimes to pickpockets hesitate to file complaint has proven to be a hindrance for the police.