Teen loses bicycle bought by pawning mother's earrings, Kerala police get it back

Fourteen-year-old Abhijith R walked into the Pandalam police station one evening, his face pale and eyes swollen from crying. His father, Rathnakaran KG, a taxi driver, accompanied him as he handed over a handwritten complaint—his beloved bicycle had gone missing. The cycle, his most prized possession, had been his constant companion, taking him to school and around the neighbourhood. It was a gift from his parents a year ago, bought with great sacrifice—they had pawned his mother Anitha Kumari’s earrings to afford the Rs 9,500 purchase.

Seeing the boy’s distress, the officers considered pooling money to buy him a new one. But within two days, their search bore fruit—they found the bicycle abandoned near a bridge in Pandalam and returned it to Abhijith.

“When he came to file the complaint, he was exhausted and hadn’t eaten much since the cycle went missing,” said CPO Anvar Shah S. “He was weeping the whole time. His father told us how much the bicycle meant to him.”

Abhijith had long wished for a bicycle, and his parents finally fulfilled his dream when he was in eighth grade. “We surprised him by bringing it home in an auto-rickshaw. He was overjoyed. From then on, he treated it like his best friend, riding it everywhere,” recalled Rathnakaran. Their house near MC Road, Kaippuzha, Kulanada, lacked a gate or wall, and they would leave the bicycle inside the porch beside Rathnakaran’s car. 

The bicycle went missing on January 25. “We had moved it to the backyard while preparing the front portion of the house cleaned for the Thiruvabharana Ghoshayatra to Pandalam Palace, a part of the Sabarimala Makaravilakku festival,” Rathnakaran explained. The next morning, the family left home early in the morning—his wife and children visited relatives while he went to work. When they returned that afternoon, the bicycle was gone.

Abhijith was inconsolable. Seeing his son’s distress, Rathnakaran decided to report the theft immediately. A neighbour helped them draft the complaint, which his wife wrote down.

Circle Inspector Prajeesh TD and officers Anvar Shah and Amish K took charge of the investigation. “We didn’t even register a case but started searching right away, soon after the Republic Day parade,” said one of the officers.

The police combed nearby cycle shops, bus stands, bushes, abandoned lots, and riverbanks. “There was no CCTV footage available in that area,” said Anvar Shah. By dusk, they spotted the bicycle near Pandalam Bridge and sent a photograph to Rathnakaran. The family confirmed it was theirs, and by night, they arrived at the station to retrieve it.

“We will never forget the happiness on Abhijith’s face when he saw his bicycle again,” said Anvar Shah. “He was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he didn’t even want to leave the station,” the officer said.

Abhijith is a student at Grama Panchayat HSS in Kulanada. His younger sister, Anupama A, is in seventh grade, and his mother is a homemaker.