Indian police recover Maradona's stolen watch

Timepiece belonging to late Argentine football legend taken when suspect worked in Dubai

Maradona gestures after receiving a Hublot watch from the Swiss luxury watchmaker in Shanghai in 2011. AFP

Indian police have recovered a luxury Swiss watch belonging to the late Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona after arresting a man who had been a security guard in Dubai.

The limited-edition Hublot watch had been stored at a safe at the company for which the suspect had worked, police said.

Wazid Hussain, 37, was arrested in his home town in Assam state early on Saturday and the watch was found in his possession.

Police said he took the watch before leaving Dubai in August.

“We received information through a central agency about the theft and launched an investigation yesterday,” Rakesh Roushan, superintendent of police in Shivsagar district, Assam, told The National.

“We searched several places and found Hussain at his in-laws’ place. We arrested him early in the morning at 4am and recovered the watch from there. He was aware of the value of the watch,” he said.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the local police worked with Dubai Police to recover the watch.

Bhaskar Mahanta, head of the Assam police force, described the watch's recovery as "a story of successful international co-operation" in a post on his official Twitter account.

Maradona lived in the UAE for seven years between 2011 and 2018 after joining the Dubai club Al Wasl as coach.

The back of Maradona's watch is engraved with an image of him with his arms raised in triumph, while its face features his signature and jersey number, 10. It was designed and signed by the footballer in 2010.

While the value of the Maradona edition of the watch is not known, similar models from Hublot are listed at between $22,000 and $30,000 online.

Maradona, a member of the World Cup-winning Argentinian team in 1986 and regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, had a penchant for expensive watches and wore one on each wrist.

He died in Argentina last November at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack.