M. Manikandan, one of India’s most famous directors, was first upset when his house was robbed and then surprised by the thieves’ gesture.
Thieves broke into the house in the southern town of Usilampatti through the front door on February 8 and stole about 37,000 Indian rupees, a 40-gram gold chain and silver ornaments weighing up to one kilogram.
The burglars escaped unharmed but left a small plastic bag outside the house a few days later.
Those who opened the bag found the medal and a note in a white handkerchief.
The medal was a symbol of the award Manikandan received at a prestigious national film festival in 2021.
The note, written in Tamil, said:
Sir, forgive us. The fruits of your hard work belong to you alone.
Sathish Kumar, one of the police officers investigating the case, said that the director’s manager found the bag 4 days after the theft and informed them. He emphasized that the fingerprints they obtained from the medal did not match the ones in their database.
Kumar said that a pug dog guarded the house, and that the servants would occasionally come by to feed it and clean. The burglary was discovered by those who came to the house for these reasons.
He added that there are frequent burglaries in the town and that they usually solve the cases with security cameras, adding that they have no clues in this case.
His 2014 feature debut, Kaaka Muttai, won the Indian National Film Award for Best Children’s Film, and Manikandan has since built his reputation with projects such as Kuttrame Thandanai and Aandavan Kattalai. He is currently shooting a series for the Indian digital platform Disney Plus Hotstar.
