Mandya: Out of fear of being stolen by the thieves, a woman in Mandya had hid her gold ornaments in a ragi sack. But unaware of this, her husband sold the grains to a broker who then sold the same to a rice mill owner who traced the gold and promptly returned them to the woman. Now the husband has advised his wife to keep the ornaments inside a shelf. 

The incident was reported from Kallinathapura in Nagamangala taluk where Kallegowda had sold his ragi to a broker unaware that his wife, Lakshmamma, had used it as a safe place to keep her jewellery. She had concealed the gold in the sack as she felt that thieves would not search the millet sacks and didn’t even inform her husband about this.

Thinking that her valuables worth more than Rs. 4 lakh are safe, Lakshmamma went to Bengaluru to stay with her daughter for some time. In need of cash, Kallegowda sold the ragi sacks to the broker, who, after failing to find a buyer for the crop in the neighbouring villages, sold it to Sreenivasa Binny Rice Mill at Basaralu.

As Lakshmamma remained in Bengaluru for some days, the loss did not come to light. At the rice mill, when the workers were pouring ragi from one sack to another, they found a small bag and when it was opened, the mill workers were in for a shock as gold ornaments were found along with a bill for their purchase.

The workers immediately informed the mill owner Thimmegowda who was able to contact the owner of the jewellery store where the ornaments including bracelets, mangalsutra and earrings had been purchased. Meanwhile, Lakshmamma returned from Bengaluru and was shocked to see that her husband had sold the ragi sack where she had concealed the gold.

Thimmegowda in the meantime procured information about Kallegowda’s address from the jewellery store owner and after ascertaining that Lakshmamma was the rightful owner of the ornaments, returned the same.

Later he told reporters that some of his workers had found the ornaments while pouring the ragi. “I immediately realised that someone must have concealed them inside ragi to prevent them from being stolen. I felt pity on the woman and fortunately, we found the bill of the purchase and finally Lakshmamma was traced,” he said. Both Lakshmamma and Kallegowda heaved a sigh of relief as the hard-earned ornaments made out of their meagre farm income came back to their house with a lot of twists and turns. If the broker had sold this ragi to some other buyers or outsiders, they would not have got back the gold, said Lakshmamma, appreciating Thimmegowda’s honesty.