Suresh was skeptical when a parcel service agency called him on Saturday afternoon and said that a two-wheeler was waiting to be delivered at his address.
When the 34-year-old owner of a lathe unit at Pallapalayam immediately went to the office of the parcel service, he was asked to pay ₹1,400 delivery and packing charges and take the vehicle.
The sender had opted for payment on delivery as the value of the parcel was higher than the parcel service charge.
Mr. Suresh was pleasantly surprised to see his bike, which went missing two weeks ago, at the delivery section.
When he enquired with the parcel service company, all that Mr. Suresh could find out was that the sender had listed ₹13,400 as the value of the two-wheeler and hence they allowed payment on delivery. The man had presumably driven to his hometown during the lockdown.
The two-wheeler had gone missing on May 18 when it was parked in front of Mr. Suresh’s workshop.
Along with a local journalist friend, he went to the Sulur police station where a complaint was lodged.
However, the police did not register a case of vehicle theft nor issue a community service register (CSR).
“A few days later, surveillance camera visuals from an industrial unit at Pallapalayam showed a tea master of a local shop riding the two-wheeler. We went to his house and found that he had left the house with his wife and child. Some people told us that he went to his hometown Mannargudi, probably riding the stolen two-wheeler,” said Mr. Suresh’s friend.
Mr. Suresh did not wish to speak to media.