How Maradona's Rs 20 lakh watch, stolen in Dubai, was found in Assam
A legendary footballer from Argentina, a limited edition autographed watch, millions of dollars, Dubai, Assam... all these sound like random words, just like the DGP of Assam Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said.
A costly Hublot watch... Maradona... Dubai... Assam PoliceLooks like random words, don't they?But today all these words came together nicely, stating a story of successful International Cooperation between #DubaiPolice and @assampolice . pic.twitter.com/oMRYgpX3HH
— DGP Assam (@DGPAssamPolice) December 11, 2021
The Assam Police have managed to put it all together. And what did it unravel? A country-hopping, exciting crime thriller in the real world.
Scriptwriters for the next season of Money Heist can take notes.
WHAT? Late Argentine footballer Diego Maradona’s Hublot watch, which was stolen in Dubai, was recovered in Assam over the weekend. The stolen time-piece is a limited edition Maradona-autographed Hublot watch worth nearly Rs 20 lakh. However, the police are yet to determine the exact cost of the watch.
Ref recovery of @hublot Watch of Late Diego Maradona, more memorabilia have been recovered. Jacket, track pant, T shirt, Shoes, toy doll, Squash racket, watch, lighters,Cap and iPads. @assampolice @CMOfficeAssam pic.twitter.com/Fntn1sT3OT
— GP Singh (@gpsinghips) December 12, 2021
Along with the watch, the police recovered several other memorabilia belonging to Maradona, which included a jacket, a pair of track pants, a T-shirt, shoes, a toy doll, squash racket, lighters, cap and iPads from the accused.
The Assam Police, acting on inputs from Dubai authorities, arrested the accused, Wazid Hussein, at 4 am on December 11 from his home in Sivasagar. The stolen watch was recovered from Hussen’s in-law's place in Charaideo district in Assam.
HOW DID HUSSEIN STEAL THE WATCH? Wazid Hussein worked as a security guard at a private company in Dubai. The private company was storing the memorabilia belonging to the legendary footballer.
It is said that he stole the goods while at his job. Later, he requested to return home to see his ailing father, just weeks into his job. Hussein is said to have returned to India in August this year.
HOW DID THE WATCH REACH ASSAM? The million-dollar question on everybody’s mind, including the police's, is – how did the stolen goods reach a nondescript location in India, all the way from Dubai? And most importantly, how it escaped the hawkish eyes of the airport security (because, you know, like Hardik Pandya recently found out).
Most of us know from experience, that at airports, passengers are treated and seen like criminals throughout the process. People like me find carrying chutney onto a flight quite cumbersome.
???Well said @DelhiPolice https://t.co/OD9tdmHJpi
— GP Singh (@gpsinghips) December 11, 2021
The police said that the accused has been uncooperative with the investigation and is yet to reveal how he managed to get the goods past customs and security while entering the country. The accused also reportedly told the police that the watch was given to him by an international citizen. The police are also trying to figure out why Hussein hasn't sold the goods yet.
HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO PASS THROUGH INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMS?
Smuggling stolen or illegal items into India from Arab nations, especially the UAE, is not uncommon. In fact, gold smuggling from Dubai to India is a pain for the customs and security at airports and ports. One report suggested that the majority of the smuggled gold from Dubai and Singapore end up in India.
Remember the high-profile Kerala gold smuggling case involving diplomats and local politicians? Even in this case, the main accused Swapna Suresh, who worked at the UAE consulate, used to smuggle gold to Kerala quite frequently, which went unnoticed for a long time.
Recently, cricketer Hardik Pandya was stopped at the Mumbai international airport for carrying with him two watches. One of the watches worth Rs 1.5 crore was seized by the customs department. Not that Pandya was smuggling the watch, but it suggests the level of security at airports. This again brings up the question as to how our man Hussein here could have managed to smuggle the memorabilia without attracting attention.
THE POSSIBILITY: For one, the list of items seized do not look like worth a lot of money. They look like ordinary items that could have been worn. Hussein could have just worn the jacket, the track pants, the T-shirt, the shoes, and carried the rest with him.
Since the stolen items were not in a large quantity, as it usually is in the case of smuggled electronics or other items, it is possible that Hussein may have gone undetected.
FOILED SMUGGLING ATTEMPTS: We only come to hear of a massive heist or nexus when it is busted; otherwise they usually operate right under our nose.
Recently, Mumbai customs busted smuggled goods worth Rs 15 crore that were sent via UAE postal services. The goods included 1,470 iPhones, 322 apple watches, 64 drones, 41 air pods, 391 cigarette sleeves, and 36 auto parts.
The customs department said they expected to find such goods in cargo, but not among parcels.
Another previous case raises a pertinent question in Maradona's case. How soon did the private company realise that the goods were stolen and how soon did they alert the police?
In 2018, a Dubai jeweller was able to get a Rs 60 lakh worth of diamond after it was stolen from the store because they alerted the police in time. An Asian couple was caught in Mumbai for stealing the diamond. They were to leave for Hong Kong from Mumbai. The woman had swallowed the diamond to smuggle it.
The couple was caught after the Dubai jewellery store owner alerted the local police 3 hours after the theft. The Dubai police tracked the suspects using the Smart Data Analysis Centre and with the help of Indian authorities.
Assam's Wazid Hussein holds key to most of the questions. His revelations may avert a similar theft in the future.
Clubbing of international and domestic flight routes, lots of layovers on international trips, swallowing of illegal goods or deforming the illegal goods (like gold), are some major reasons why the goods are not intercepted. But many a time, these attempts are also foiled, immediately, or months or years later at least.