Thou shalt not steal: ‘Patriotic thief’ writes on wall after leaving behind loot in retired Colonel’s home

• The thief penned an apology on the wall, quoting the Bible’s Seventh Commandment- ‘Thou shalt not steal’
• The thief realised that it was an army officer’s house only when he spotted a military cap.
• However, the remorse did not prevent the ‘patriotic’ thief from enjoying some liquor that was placed in the house.

Kochi: In an unusual incident of showing respect to a retired military officer, a burglar got filled with remorse after breaking into the officer’s residence at Tripunithura in Kochi and penned an apology on the wall, quoting the Bible’s Seventh Commandment- ‘Thou shalt not steal’ and chose not to take anything from the house.

Police operation to nab thief

However, the thief’s apology did not amuse the police and they have launched a search operation to nab him. According to the police, nothing was missing in the house. The thief repented for ‘mistakenly’ breaking into an army officer’s house and wrote that he came to know about it only when he spotted a military cap.

Thief’s apology

Using a marker, the thief penned an apology on the wall that read, “Had I come to know that it was a military personnel’s house, I would not have targeted it.” He felt that he violated the Seventh Commandment of the Bible- ‘Thou shalt not steal’, a phrase that he etched on the wall.

However, the remorse did not prevent the ‘patriotic’ thief from enjoying some liquor that was placed in the house.

According to the news agency PTI, the retired army personnel, along with his family, have been out of station for the last past two-and-a-half months and they employed a woman to clean the house regularly in their absence. However, on Wednesday, the woman got shocked when she noticed the front door broken open. She informed the police about the incident.

Issac Mani, the owner of the house, has been flooded with calls after the news about the incident broke. While speaking to the news agency IANS, he said, “The house is mine and some renovation work is going on there. During the day time, there are two people who work there and in the night there is no one.”

Thief’s unusual request

In another place, the thief wrote that before entering the army personnel’s house he executed a theft at a shop located nearby. He etched that he is taking away the money while leaving behind a bag and some documents. He urged that the bag and the documents should be handed over to the shop owner.