Stolen IPL cricket kits worth Rs 16 lakh recovered

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In a dramatic turn of events, the missing cricket kits of Delhi Capitals, the Indian Premier League (IPL) team, have been found and recovered successfully by Bengaluru police on Saturday, April 22. The police arrested two men, Cheluvaraju from Mysuru and Sudanshu Kumar Naik from Odisha, both residing in Bengaluru, for stealing the team's precious gear.

Apparently, the theft took place while the bags were being transported to the Kempegowda International Airport. A complaint was filed on Friday, April 21 at the Cubbon Park Police Station in Bengaluru regarding the missing cricket kits by Ananda Agrawal, the managing director of Express Freight System India Pvt Limited.

While transporting 64 bags to Kempegowda International Airport, a couple of kit bags were found to be missing. The Cubbon Park police arrested Cheluvaraju (30), the driver, and Naik (30), the courier boy, after a probe and recovered the stolen items. They found out that the kits were stolen when they were being transported in a Tata Intra compact truck.

Police have successfully retrieved stolen cricket equipment worth approximately Rs 16 lakh, including 12 cricket bats, 18 cricket balls, two helmets, four pairs of hand gloves, three pairs of leg and thigh pads, a centre guard, and a backpack. Among the stolen items were belongings of Delhi Capitals' captain David Warner and other team members who played against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 15, which they lost by 23 runs.

Following the recovery, Warner took to Instagram to express his gratitude for the culprits' arrest. However, a few items are still missing, he posted on his Instagram story. The two suspects have been charged with theft under Section 379 of the Indian Penal Code as per media reports.