According to the police, the thief broke into five shops in the locality that night before breaking into the Army man’s house in Ernakulam

After allegedly robbing five shops in Kerala, a thief had a sudden change of heart after he attempted to rob the sixth place, the residence of a former Indian soldier. After realising that he was attempting to rob an army man’s residence, the unidentified thief wrote an apology on the wall in Malayalam, allegedly consumed a glass of alcohol from the army man’s stash and left the residence without stealing anything.

The robbery was reported at the residence of Issac Mani, a former Indian army soldier residing at Thiruvankulam, Ernakulam district of Kerala. The thief is believed to have made his six stops on Tuesday night.

The door to the house was found broken on Wednesday morning by the woman caretaker of the house. She duly alerted the police. No items from the house were missing but the caretaker and the police found the following message scribbled on the wall: "I flouted the seventh commandment (Thou shalt not steal) of the Bible. I did not know it was the house of a soldier. I realised it at the last minute when I spotted the Army cap. Officer, please forgive me. If I had known it was the house of a soldier, I would not have broken in."

Before leaving the note, the police said the thief broke into five shops in the locality that night. All the shops and houses were broken into by picking the lock. One of the cash bags stolen from Bharath Tyre and the owner’s wallet were found at the army man’s residence. A sum of Rs. 10,000 was, however, found missing from the stolen bag. The thief allegedly requested the police to return the bag to the owner.

The equipment used to pick the locks were also recovered from the house. The forensic team conducted a sweep of the house for the thief’s fingerprints.

The police are not buying the thief's apology and have begun an investigation. They suspect the involvement of more than one person. The police believe that the remorseful thief was not a local and are of the view that the apology on the wall was a ruse to mislead the police investigation.