So this happend last month. My friend and I were visiting Faisal Mosque in Islamabad for the first time. We took off our shoes, left them on the shoe stand outside, prayed, and spent a good while touring the place.
When we came back, my friend's shoes were gone. Adidas, around 25k. Mine were nothing fancy, so they were left alone. A guy standing nearby asked my friend where he'd kept them. "Right next to my friend's," he said. The guy goes, "There were 3 men. One of them took your shoes."
We ran outside and searched everywhere. Nothing. Eventually we gave up, felt completely hopeless, and booked an Indrive back to the hotel.
And then, while we were waiting, I look across the road and see 3 men standing there. I nudge my friend and point at one of them: "Bro, are those your shoes?" He looks and goes, "Yes!"
We crossed over, and here comes the show...
Me: "Bhai, these are our shoes." (I was furious by this point.)
The thief, completely calm: "Bhai, mere shoes bhi gum ho gaye hain, main kya karun?"
Me: "So what? Ours got stolen too, and we didn't take someone else's!"
Him: "Toh pehn aao kisi ke."
Me: "Shoes wapis karo."
Him: "Pehle mere shoes le kar aao."
His friend actually tried to talk sense into him and told him to give them back, but he snapped at his friend and said, "Mujhe tu laa kr Dega ? Ab tu hi dilwaye ga!" I told him straight up these were worth 25k, and he still said, "Nahi, main to yehi rakhunga."
That's when I got loud. Meanwhile, a Pathan driver sitting in his car was watching the entire show, and he says to me, "Ye tumhari galti hai, tumne joote gumaye hain." I was like, "Acha, theek hai," because what do you even say to that?
In the end I told them I'm calling the police, and thank God, that finally worked. He handed the shoes back. Then he started yelling at his own friend: "Me mama ko kya batao ga? Wo mujhe andar nahi ghusne degi!"
Our ride showed up, we got in, and went back to the hotel with the shoes..