Mrs. Vibha Desai
Way back in 2008, I and my husband went on a pilgrimage to Ganagapur, Tulajhapur and Pandharpur. First we went to Ganagapur, which is in Karnataka, on 25th of January, 2008. After darshan of Lord Dattatreya, we left for Solapur and reached there by 7.45P.M. Because of the weekend and next day was a Republic day, we could not get accommodation in our regular hotel. Finally, we got settled in an another hotel, Vinayaka Lodge. Next day, we locked our room and handed over the key to the hotel receptionist and left for Tulajhapur.
After Amba Bhavani darshan at Tulajhapur, we returned to the hotel. As the room boy had cleaned the room, I wanted to check my gold necklace. For my surprise, that was missing. Immediately, we complained to the hotel management. They enquired with their staff and told us that nobody is ready to accept, so please lodge a complaint. As we had to attend a wedding next day, we could not lodge a complaint. After the wedding, we returned to Bengaluru and wrote a detailed letter to the Police Commissioner of Solapur, Mr Ashok Kamte.
They started the investigation. After two weeks, I got a call from Solapur police saying that they found the thief. But the ornament was sold to one goldsmith. When enquired with that goldsmith, they found that the necklace was not in the original form. He had melted it. So they asked him to make a similar type of necklace. Since FIR was filed, we had to take the necklace only through the court. We appointed one lawyer and explained him the whole story. He prepared a file. Court gave us the date. Finally, that particular day, I went to Solapur court and got my necklace.
I am very sorry to say that Mr Ashok Kamte was martyred in action by terrorists during the Mumbai attacks, on 26th November 2008.