Indian police feeding suspect bananas to recover stolen necklace

MUMBAI, April 29 (UPI) -- Police in India said a theft suspect is being fed a banana diet to help him pass a stolen necklace spotted in an X-ray image of his body.

Investigators said Anil Yadav, 30, grabbed the gold mangalsutra necklace, worth nearly $1,000, from a 52-year-old woman as she was walking home Monday in the Sion area of Mumbai.

"After the lady screamed for help, our police patrol and members of the public gave him a chase and caught him," police official Rahul Pawar told the BBC. "We searched him thoroughly in the police station but did not find the necklace. Then some people who had caught him told us that they had seen him swallowing something."

Yadav was taken to Sion hospital, where X-ray images showed the necklace lodged in his food pipe. Police said the necklace has since moved to the suspect's stomach and he is being fed a diet of bananas and liquids to help him pass the pilfered item naturally.

Dr. Debangshu Dam, a medical practitioner based in Delhi, said bananas might not be the most efficient laxative.

"The only thing bananas will do is add bulk in his stool," Dam said. "Eating lots of bananas will cause gastro-colic reflex which will make him pass stool. But it's a very primitive method, it's not a scientific thing to do."