Teenager files bogus complaint, sends cops on wild goose chase

A 17-year-old boy from Mumbra sent the Bandra police and local crime branch officials on a wild goose chase after he filed a false complaint alleging unknown people assaulted and robbed him of Rs34,000 in Bandra. After three days of probing the case, the police learnt he had cooked up a story and was using the money to elope with his girlfriend.

A 17-year-old boy from Mumbra sent the Bandra police and local crime branch officials on a wild goose chase after he filed a false complaint alleging unknown people assaulted and robbed him of Rs34,000 in Bandra. After three days of probing the case, the police learnt he had cooked up a story and was using the money to elope with his girlfriend.

Cops patrol Mumbai streets. (HT photo/Vijayanand Gupta)

“Promising marriage, the 17-year-old and his friend had convinced their girlfriends to run away from home. When the brother of one of the girls got to know, he assaulted the boy with a belt,” said an officer.

The teen showed these bruises to the police and told the cops that when he boarded an autorickshaw at Sion to go to Bandra, the auto driver and another man assaulted him and robbed him of the Rs34,000 that his father had given him to buy clothes from a wholesale market in Khar. Seeing his bruises, the police filed an FIR and began to probe the case.

A police team comprising API Patil, PN Naik and PN Pednekar took the boy to the spot and reconstructed the sequence of events. The officials also questioned him for hours but only got inconsistent replies, said the police. Eventually, the boy confessed. “We will take further action based on the intention for filing the false complaint,” said Sanjeev Bhole, police inspector, crime, Bandra police station.