A lawyer whose two-wheeler was stolen 14 months ago was stunned to find it parked in front of the gate of his New Patliputra Colony house on Sunday morning. 

“It was the same motorbike stolen from my building on December 2, 2014,” said Anup Kumar Pandey, who was still finding it hard to believe his luck. “I found the documents intact in the leather bag attached to the bike.” 

He immediately informed the Patliputra police station — under whose jurisdiction the area is — about the recovery of the bike. 

Initially the cops on duty at the police station couldn’t believe it either, but later tried to claim credit for it by attributing it to the special police drive against vehicle-thief gangs. 

A police officer rushed to the spot and took the motorbike to the police station. He advised Pandey to approach the court to get an order issued so that the bike could be officially handed over to him. 

Though a tad sad about the worn-out condition of the bike, Pandey said: “I have been in the legal profession for over a decade now, but such a case has come to the fore for the first time. The thief has ridden approximately 10,000km on the bike.” 

Pandey had persistently enquired with the police about the stolen bike till around two months after the theft; he later bought a new one. 

“I bought my first bike (the stolen one) from Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district in 2007,” he said. “Perhaps, good sense prevailed upon the thief, who abandoned the vehicle near my residence and fled. Whatever the reason may be, I have got my motorbike back.”

He said that he had not submitted any claim for payment of insurance as the date had lapsed. “I do not have the faintest idea about the action Patliputra police took in the case,” Pandey added. 

The vehicle, according to Pandey, was stolen from the premises of the building. “I had parked the two-wheeler after returning from the court but had forgotten to lock it. Barely 10 to 15 minutes after that, the two-wheeler went missing,” he said. 

“The thief returned the two-wheeler bowing to police pressure,” claimed R.K. Dubey, station house officer at Patliputra police station. “We have launched a drive against gangs involved in stealing vehicles and bikes. Apprehending trouble, the thief decided to return the vehicle.”