Ghaziabad: Man stages theft at his own home, arrested

Investigators said that other than the cash, no other valuables were found missing from the house and the cash was recovered

In a turn of events, a 46-year-old man from Modinagar, Ghaziabad, was arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing ₹4 lakh in cash from his own house, police said, adding that the man himself had filed a complaint regarding the theft, to divert attention away from his involvement.

According to police, Jaypal Singh, the complainant-turned-suspect, had lodged an FIR for theft at the Modinagar police station. (Representative Image)

According to police, Jaypal Singh, the complainant-turned-suspect, had lodged an FIR for theft at the Modinagar police station. Singh claimed that on August 9, his wife, Soniya Singh, had gone to the market around 11 am, returning at approximately 3:30 pm, only to discover their residence ransacked and ₹4 lakh, stored within a box, conspicuously absent.

The missing cash, as it was discovered during the investigation, originally belonged to Jaypal’s brother-in-law, Pradeep Singh. Just twenty days prior, Pradeep had liquidated a plot of land in Baghpat, entrusting the substantial sum to his sister, Soniya.

“During the questioning, we came to know that only three people, Jaypal, Soniya and Pradeep, had information about the cash. According to Soniya, while she and her husband were in the market, her husband had left for some time and came back,” said a police investigator.

Gyan Prakash Rai, ACP (Modinagar), said, “Jaypal said that after he went to market, he left his wife in a bank and went to his house. He pulled out the cash kept in the box and pulled out a slab of stone from the balcony of the house and dug up a pit. There, he hid the cash in a bag and put the stone slab back. Thereafter, he returned to the market and joined his wife was making some purchases with their children.”

“Before returning to the market, Jaypal also ransacked the house deliberately so that it looked like a case of theft to his wife. During questioning, Soniya told police that her husband needed some money and he had asked her to part with some cash from ₹4 lakh which was kept in the house. She, however, denied him. We also came to know that he also had taken some loan and wanted to repay it,” ACP added.

Investigators said that other than the cash, no other valuables were found missing from the house and the cash was recovered.