Olympic Gold Medal Among Items Stolen From Ex-Hockey Captain's Bengaluru Home

Burglars broke into former Indian hockey captain MM Somaya's Bengaluru home and stole his 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medal, along with other medals from prestigious international sporting events, and valuables worth over Rs 3 lakh.

The incident took place on the night of October 28, two days after the 67-year-old Olympian left his home to travel with his family to Karnataka's Kodagu.

Around 7:15 am, Somaya's neighbour, Narayana, noticed that the door of the Olympian's house was open and alerted him, suspecting a break-in.

CCTV footage from the neighbour's house revealed that two unidentified persons had entered Somaya's home around 2:34 am. The clips reportedly showed one of the burglars wearing a blue shirt and the other a red shirt. They allegedly broke open the door, entered the house, and stole valuables kept inside.

According to the FIR, the stolen items included the gold medal Somaya won as a part of the Indian hockey team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, a silver medal from the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games, a bronze medal from the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, and another bronze medal from the 1982 Champions Trophy in Amsterdam.

Other stolen valuables include two silver cups weighing 72 grams each (144 grams in total), a 10-gram gold bangle, six silver spoons weighing 200 grams collectively, a silver pot weighing 80 grams, an 8-gram gold coin, and Rs 30,000 in cash.

The total estimated value of the stolen property, excluding the sporting medals, has been stated as Rs. 3.53 lakh in the police complaint.

Somaya has requested the police to identify and arrest the accused, recover all the stolen belongings, and initiate appropriate legal action.

A case has been filed at the Indiranagar police station under Sections 331(4) (house-trespass or house-breaking) and 305 (theft in a dwelling house, means of transportation or place of worship, among other locations) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The police have formed two special teams to trace and arrest the accused, officials said.