Stomach pains rumble thief's loot hideaway

BERLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) A German thief who swallowed a ring he had stolen was betrayed by his own body when he suffered stomach pains during police interrogation.

He was taken to hospital where an x-ray revealed the hidden loot.

Off-duty police officers in the western town of Bergisch Gladbach thought they had seen the 30-year-old stealing something from a shop window, but only found an empty box when they searched him, a police spokesman said Friday.

''He said he'd grabbed the box and found it empty, but the shopkeeper said there was a ring missing,'' he said. ''Then during questioning he complained of severe stomach pains and was rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitis.'' Doctors x-rayed the man and discovered the ring, which they fished out using pincers attached to a stomach tube.

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