Banana bonanza for Indian pick-pocket

NATURAL LAXATIVE: A thief was fed bananas so that police could retrieve a piece of stolen jewellery

Gold thief remains in ‘custardy’ 

Police in Mumbai have reportedly force-fed 40 bananas down a thief’s throat after he swallowed a gold chain whilst he was being chased by officers who had caught him stealing the jewellery.

The police in the western Indian city were successful in their unusual technique to retrieve the sparkly chain after the initial enema failed to work.

Hospital X-rays showed that the man was lying when he said that he didn’t snatch the chain from a woman in a bustling Mumbai street.

Doctors suggested performing an operation, but police officers thought it would be too expensive and opted instead for the fruitier method.

“He was fed more than 40 bananas throughout the day,” said Shankar Dhanavade, a senior inspector with Mumbai police.

Eventually the chain was found. “We made him wash and disinfect it,” the policeman said.

The 25-year-old man appeared in court on Friday and is in police custody, said Dhanavade.

According to reports, it was not the first time Mumbai police had used this technique in order to recover a stolen item.

In July last year, a chain was retrieved after a thief was forced to eat two-dozen bananas and drink several litres of milk laced with laxatives, reported the Hindustan Times.

The BBC reported last April that another alleged thief was fed five dozen bananas and liquids in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve a gold chain stuck in his stomach.

#WEAREALLMONKEYS

When Barcelona’s fullback, Dani Alves, had a banana hurled at him during a La Liga match at Villarreal, he did what very few others would ever contemplate doing…he ate it.

VICTIM: After Dani Alves ate a banana which was thrown at him during a recent La Liga match with Villarreal, the hashtag ‘we are all monkeys’ swept across social media

From that one action, a whole new anti-racism campaign was launched, unbeknownst to the Brazilian international, as social media showed its growing power once again in helping to tackle society’s unwanted problems.

Just moments after the final whistle was blown, Alves’ teammate and fellow countryman, Neymar, posted a picture of himself eating a banana on Twitter, asking others to join him with the hashtag #weareallmonkeys.

From that moment, hundreds of celebrities, sport stars and political figures have joined in the campaign and despite its critics, #weareallmonkeys has swept across social media.

SUPPORT: Sport stars, politicians and celebrities have all backed the campaign, posting pictures of themselves eating bananas on Twitter

The campaign was initially thought up by Barcelona’s forward, Neymar, after he was victim of racist verbal abuse at a league match with Espanyol.

In an attempt to tackle one of Spanish football’s taboo subjects, the 22-year-old, along with Brazilian advertising agency, Loducca, planned for the hashtag to tackle the issue head on.

“Neymar didn't want to be quiet, he wanted to use his own powerful voice to create something to talk about racism,” Guga Ketzer, partner at Brazilian agency Loducca, told the BBC.

“We created this idea with the hashtag ‘we are all monkeys’ and the idea was to use it and take a picture of him eating a banana.

SUPPORT: Sport stars, politicians and celebrities have all backed the campaign, posting pictures of themselves eating bananas on Twitter

“It was the best way to empower and start this conversation in Brazil.

“It is to prove to the racists that we are all together - whether we are black, white, yellow, it doesn't matter. We are all monkeys. Our idea was to make the racist powerless. It is one of the biggest racist conversations in years in Brazil and even in the world.”

Alves, who spoke to reporters after the incident last month, said racism was a very real problem in the country.

“We have suffered this in Spain for some time,” he said.

“You have to take it with a dose of humour. We aren’t going to change things easily. If you don’t give it importance, they don’t achieve their objective.”

SUPPORT: Sport stars, politicians and celebrities have all backed the campaign, posting pictures of themselves eating bananas on Twitter