Gurugram: Man cooks up robbery story to gain family’s money

A 29-year-old executive of a private pharmaceutical company has been booked for allegedly stabbing himself at his residence on Wednesday evening and concocting a fake robbery story to siphon off his family’s money, said police

A 29-year-old executive of a private pharmaceutical company has been booked for allegedly stabbing himself at his residence on Wednesday evening and concocting a fake robbery story to siphon off his family’s money, said police.

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According to police, around 8pm on Wednesday, they received a call from a man identified as Kushagra Ahuja, a resident of Sector 10A, who claimed to have been stabbed and robbed by four unidentified men posing as Wi-fi technicians. Ahuja lives in an apartment on the first floor with his family members.

Assistant commissioner of police (crime) Preet Pal Sangwan said a team from Sector 10A police station was sent to the spot. Ahuja was administered first aid and his statement was recorded. “The victim said he was alone at home around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, when a man posing as a Wi-fi-technician entered his house and asked him to show his router. Meanwhile, two others allegedly entered the house, held him hostage at knife point and looted the cash and valuables kept in the house,” said Sangwan.

Ahuja told HT his family members had gone to the market while his niece had gone to play with her friend when the suspects entered the house.

“An unidentified man rang the door bell and introduced himself as a technician from a well-known telecom company. He said there is some technical fault at fibre cables and they were checking all connections. He asked me to show the wi-fi connection box (router). As soon as I walked towards the drawing room, two more men entered the house. They held me at knife point, took out cash and valuables from the almirahs and tried to flee. I raised an alarm and caught hold of one of them but he stabbed me to escape,” said Ahuja adding that while three men were inside the house, one was standing outside keeping a watch.

Police scanned the footage of CCTV cameras installed on the route leading up to the house and found that no one entered the lane or the building as was being claimed by the complainant.

Sangwan said the CCTV footage clearly showed Ahuja going out and returning after a few minutes. “He was carrying a packet in his hand. The sequences of the incident narrated by him did not corroborate with the findings. He kept on changing his statements though he maintained that he was robbed by four people,” said the ACP.

“When we showed him all the CCTV footage, Ahuja confessed he concocted the story. During further interrogation, he disclosed that he worked as a senior executive with a pharmaceutical company and had no savings. He incurred huge losses during the Covid-19 pandemic and was in debt. He needed money to pay off his dues,” said Sangwan adding that Ahuja stabbed himself twice to make the police believe in his story.

Police recovered the money and valuables--collectively amounting to ₹5 lakh, which Ahuja had kept hidden. Ahuja was booked under section 182 (false information with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) of the IPC for making the fake call. “Action will be taken against him on further investigation,” said Sangwan.

HT tried reaching out to Ahuja for comments but his phone was switched off.