Thief steals cash but leaves wallet with documents in postbox

In an unusual turn of events, a pickpocket in Kerala's Kannur district showed an unexpected touch of consideration by returning a victim's identification documents after stealing the cash. Instead of dumping the stolen wallet in a drain or a wayside bush, the thief neatly deposited it into a public postbox after pocketing the money.
The bizarre incident came to light on Thursday afternoon when postal department employee PP Madhusoodanan went to clear the postbox near the Cherupuzha bus stand. Alongside the usual pile of letters, he was surprised to find a leather wallet inside. Madhusoodanan immediately handed the wallet over to Cherupuzha Post Master A Abraham.

Upon inspecting the contents, the postal officials found various essential identity proofs, including an Aadhaar card, a PAN card, and several bank ATM cards. The documents belonged to KV Rajeev, a resident of Thaikadappuram in Nileshwaram. Realising the importance of these documents, the Post Master contacted the Nileshwaram post office to locate and inform the owner.
It turned out that Rajeev had lost his wallet a few days prior during a bus journey from Nileshwaram to Payyannur. After realising it had been picked, he had promptly filed a complaint with the Payyannur police. He had given up hope of ever seeing his cards or cash again when he received the surprising call from the postal department.

According to the postal staff, the wallet was not in the postbox during their morning clearance routine. This indicates that the thief had walked up to the box sometime during the day to drop the wallet in, shortly before the 2.30 pm clearance. Although the thief made away with the cash of ₹1500, Rajeev is incredibly relieved to have recovered his critical documents without having to face the bureaucratic nightmare of reapplying for them.