A 27-year-old man faked his robbery to use Rs 5 lakh he had withdrawn on behalf of the firm where he is employed in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said.
However, discrepancies in his statements and the investigation exposed the robbery ruse and police registered a case, an officer said.
In his complaint lodged with the police, the man claimed four men stopped him while he was riding his motorcycle from Vartak Nagar to Manpada in Thane city on Friday night, threw chilli powder in his eyes and snatched the bag containing cash, he said.
Police registered a case under section 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unidentified persons.
However, police sensed something was amiss as there were discrepancies in the statement given by the complainant. No traces of chilli powder were found in his eyes while the CCTV footages of the area of the ‘crime’ showed the complainant was not carrying any bag, the officer said.
During the sustained questioning, the complainant spilled the beans saying he cooked up the robbery story as he wanted to keep Rs 5 lakh with him, he said, adding that police recovered the cash.