KOCHI: A theft attempt happened in Kochi recently that proved the patriotism of the thieves. The thief broke into about five shops and committed theft but they stopped short of committing it in a house after coming to know that it belonged to a jawan.

Before entering the house of the jawan, he had committed back-to-back robberies in about five shops but was disappointed with the whatever he could find.

With jawan’s house also they were not happy as he could not lay their hands on anything substantial. But while they were ransacking the tables and cupboards, his eyes got stuck in the army man’s cap hanging to a nail on the wall. Suddenly, there was a gush of patriotism as well as repentance in his heart.

The incident happened in the house of Issac Mani at Thiruvankulam Palathinkal the other day in the night. Mani, an ex-military, is abroad now. However, the patriotic thief’s eyes were lured to another solacing thing - a bottle of liquor bought under military quota.

They gulped down a peg and wrote an apology note on the wall before leaving the house. “I breached the seventh commandment in Bible. I didn’t know this is a jawan’s house. Had I known that, I would not have done this. I came to know about it only in the last minute, when I saw the cap. Officer, please forgive me..” goes the apology written by the literate thief.

Meanwhile, the police have started the investigation into the robbery and robbery attempt without giving any concession in the name of patriotism.