India: Thief returns stolen phone to man in West Bengal after he fails to operate it

A man who lost his smartphone in a shop got it back a few days later after the person who stole it returned the device as he could not operate it. The hilarious incident was reported from Jamalpur in East Burdwan district from the Indian state of West Bengal on Friday.

Talking to media sources, police officials said: "The man left his mobile phone worth Rs45000 (Dh2236) by mistake at a sweet shop at Jamalpur, and the phone was stolen from the shop counter."

Subsequently, the phone owner had lodged a complaint with the police as the phone could not be traced at the sweet shop.

While sharing the news on his Facebook page, a user Ritesh Agarwal commented: "Even though it seems funny, I appreciate that the accused gave back the phone rather than throwing it somewhere."

Police also added that the owner had tried to make a call to his number from another phone but found it was switched off. Later, when he repeated the attempt, and the man who had stolen the phone answered the call and told him that he wanted to return the phone as he did not know how to operate it.

The phone owner said: "I was surprised when the man took the call, and said he wanted to return my phone. I collected the cell phone that very day from his residence with police help. He even expressed remorse for his actions."

The police did not take any action against the man on the request of the complainant as he had returned the phone.