Courier cooks up robbery story, pockets Rs11 Lakh, held

An imitation jewellery firm employee tried to outsmart his boss and the police by claiming that three unidentified  men had stolen  the Rs11 lakh he was to deliver to his Malad office.

But, the LT Marg police did not buy his story and arrested him for pocketing the money.

Pappu Patel, 33, a resident of Unnat Nagar in Goregaon, had been employed with Trend Fashion Jewellery, owned by Sanjay Jain, for the last seven years. Jain trusted Patel and would often give him the responsibility of dealing with the monetary transactions.

“On September 17, Jain wanted to send money to Rajkot in Gujarat. He asked Patel to get Rs11 lakh from an angadia (courier) firm in Bhuleshwar and bring it to the Malad office,” said a police officer from LT Marg police station.

Minutes after Patel collected the money from the firm, he called Jain and told him that three unidentified men had accosted him in Bhuleshwar, assaulted him and snatched his bag containing the cash.

On the behest of his employer, Patel later lodged a complaint with the LT Marg police.

“We went to the spot where the alleged robbery had taken place and enquired with the hawkers and shopkeepers. But, they told us that no incident of robbery had taken place there on September 17, as claimed by Patel,” said police sub-inspector Laxmikant Salunkhe.

"Moreover, the hawkers said that Bhuleshwar is a busy market area and any commotion would have drawn everyone’s attention. This raised a doubt and we then grilled Patel," added Salunkhe.

Patel reportedly confessed of having concocted the story of being robbed and admitted that he had pocketed the money. 

“He revealed that he had kept the Rs11 lakh at his uncle Chotelal Jaiswar's residence in Goregaon. We arrested Patel and Jaiswar and have also recovered the money from them. They have been remanded in police custody until September 27," said Salunkhe.