KOCHI: The theft complaint had all the ingredients of a dramatic heist – gold worth Rs 26 lakh, two bike-borne robbers, sprinkling of chilli powder in broad daylight, and a finance company manager. But a police investigation revealed that the theft was a story cooked up by the manager of the gold finance company.
The story unfolded on Thursday when Velloorkunnam resident Renjith approached the Muvattupuzha police station with a complaint that his brother Rahul, who is working with a gold finance firm, was attacked by unknown persons. According to the complainant, when Rahul was returning on his scooter after completing the gold takeover procedure from another finance firm, two bike-borne persons came from opposite sides and sprinkled chilli powder on his face near the Thrikka temple in Vazhappilly near Velloorkunnam, Muvattupuzha. He had kept 560 grams of gold ornaments worth Rs 26 lakh in his laptop bag which the assailants snatched around 12.30pm, the complaint said.
Soon, the police registered a case and a team under Muvattupuzha DySP A J Thomas was formed to probe the case. The police found Rahul’s scooter near the temple with chilli powder spread on it. Later, the cops recorded the statement of Rahul.
“We checked CCTV footage from the entire stretch but could not find any bike as narrated by the victim. We also spoke to shopkeepers and autorickshaw drivers regarding such an incident. They were unaware of any theft attempt. We tried to collect all possible evidence, but nothing corroborating the statement of the victim derived,” Thomas said.
With no evidence to proceed with the investigation, the police decided to collect more information from the victim. When he was asked about the incident again, contradictions emerged in his statement. After recording the statement of Rahul again, the investigation team started doubting whether the complaint was fake. On a detailed interrogation, Rahul revealed the truth.
He admitted that he made up the snatching incident as he was under severe financial crisis. Rahul said the stolen gold – worth Rs 20 lakh – was kept in his office while the remaining gold, worth Rs 6 lakh, was hidden near the temple.
“We recovered the remaining gold from near the temple. However, the finance company was not interested in proceeding with the case. Hence, we decided not to arrest him and to drop the case,” a police officer said.
Twist in heist
The police said that the CCTV footage from crime site did not reveal any evidence
The suspect, duped as victim, gave contradictory statements to the police
In a detailed interrogation, Rahul confessed that he had made up the incident to loot money from his office