Thief returns $292,000 luxury watch stolen in Tokyo with handwritten apology

Dubai: A luxury watch worth $292,000 stolen from a Tokyo shop last week, has been mysteriously returned by courier along with a handwritten apology, although police are still hunting the suspect who fled with it, Japanese media reported.

The Audemars Piguet watch was delivered to the same store in Tokyo's Nakano district on Sunday morning, just days after a man allegedly stole it while pretending to try it on.

According to police and sources familiar with the investigation, the theft occurred at around 8pm on Thursday at a watch shop on the third floor of the Nakano Broadway shopping complex.

The suspect asked to try on the expensive timepiece before suddenly fleeing the store with it. Two employees were present during the incident, but neither was injured.

The watch was returned through a delivery service in a parcel sent from Aichi Prefecture, accompanied by a handwritten note expressing an apology.

Store employees checked the watch's serial number and confirmed that it was the same timepiece stolen days earlier.

Although the parcel included a sender's name and address, investigators suspect the details were false.

Tokyo police are continuing their investigation to identify and arrest the suspect, despite the watch's unexpected return.

The incident follows another major watch theft at the same shopping complex in August, when four luxury watches worth approximately 200 million yen were stolen from a shop on the first floor.

Two Chilean nationals were arrested in connection with that theft and subsequently formally charged.