When the Kalyan Government Railway Police arrested 28-year-old Damu Gupta on December 22 for snatching the mangalsutra of a women traveller on Vidarbha Express, they were not in a hurry to recover the stolen item.

The cops decided to exhibit extraordinary patience after they realised that Gupta had swallowed the piece of jewellery. So they put him on a banana diet and waited. Their patience paid off around 1 am on Thursday when Gupta excreted the precious metal.

The cops then had a relatively easier task – to clean the 11-gm necklace. It is now in the custody of the GRP.

Gupta, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, snatched the gold ornament from Sheetal Kamble, who was heading to Nagpur. As Kamble raised an alarm, other passengers on the train nabbed Gupta and handed him over to the railway police.

However, when cops searched Gupta they did not find anything on him. It was then a passenger informed them that he had seen Gupta swallowing the chain. The police first took him a private hospital in Dombivli where an X-ray report proved inconclusive.

The next day, they took Gupta, who hails from Gondhava village in UP, to Thane Civil Hospital. A sonography test revealed the presence of the mangalsutra in his body. Doctors then advised that Gupta be put on a banana diet.

Inspector S Nirmal of Kalyan GRP police said, “He must have had more than seven dozens of bananas in the past three days. Around 1 am on Thursday, the jewellery came out with his stool.

We cleaned it and kept it in our custody. We will hand over the item to its owner once the case is over.”

Nirmal said, “We have also learnt that Gupta faces many cases in his home state. He will be produced in a court on December 30.”

Sheetal’s husband Yadav Kamble, a lecturer at an engineering college, praised the police for the recovery. He said, “I am happy that the mangalsutra is now with the police. I was also informed that the chain-snatcher is under the supervision of doctors. I wish him good health and let the law take its own course.”