Bhopal, Jun 29: Madhya Pradesh police recovered a swallowed Mangalsutra (gold chain) from a thief's abdomen within minutes putting him through a surgery. The investigators were rewarded with cash prize for recovering the swallowed gold chain.

On Thursday evening, two motorcycle-borne youths snatched Mangalsutra from a 70-year-old woman who was sleeping outside her residence in Jabalpur’s Defence Colony. After residents alerted police, a team led by ASP Deepak Kumar Shukla nabbed the accused.

To escape, one of the accused, identified as Suraj Kumar, gulped the gold chain. Kumar was taken to Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, where X-rays showed the jewellery in his gut. Cops put him through an endoscopic surgery and recovered the Mangalsutra.

“It was an extremely safe endoscopic removal of the foreign object which took five minutes,” Dr Pankaj Asati who performed the operation was quoted as saying by TOI. After the recovery, the accused confessed to have committed similar crimes in past.

In 2016, Mumbai Police made an accused to consume 96 bananas to retrieve a chain from his stomach. Cops used to check faeces each time he defecated. However, the idea didn't work as the ornament remained stuck inside. Later, doctors administered an enema that did the job.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2018 11:37 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).