Ghaziabad: Couple held for staging theft at boutique to claim Rs 45 lakh insurance

The duo, during questioning, broke down and told police that they staged the theft as they wanted to claim the insurance money. Their boutique, they claimed, was chalking up losses.

The Ghaziabad police on Saturday arrested a 45-year-old woman and her husband for allegedly staging a theft at their boutique in order to claim an insurance amount of Rs 45 lakh.

The police on Saturday arrested a couple for faking a theft at their boutique in order to claim insurance of Rs 45 lakh in Ghaziabad. (SAKIB ALI/HT Photo)

The police have lodged an FIR against the couple for providing fake information and for cheating.

The incident was allegedly orchestrated by Archana Singh and her husband Prem Vir, both residents of Sector 3A of Nehru Nagar.

The police said Prem Vir also enlisted the help of his uncle Gajpal Singh, who hails from Simbhaoli in Hapur district, to stage the theft.

According to the police, on January 10, Archana reported a case of theft at her boutique to the Sihani Gate police station. She claimed in her complaint that all finished material and other items in her shop – ‘Saburi – The Boutique’, near Nasirpur railway crossing, were stolen.

“They also gave statements to the media that the stolen items were worth around Rs 50 lakh. Upon receiving the complaint, senior officers issued a warning to the police post in-charge of the area concerned.

According to police, on the night of the alleged incident, the couple, with the help of Gajpal, used daily wage earners and a mini-truck to spirit away bagful of clothes from the shop to Simbhaoli and to the couple’s house in Nehru Nagar.

“We got the leads from the daily wage earners, who were identified from the CCTV footage. The truck was also identified and seized along with the finished material, which was found dumped at the couple’s house,” Tomar said.

The duo, during questioning, broke down and told police that they staged the theft as they wanted to claim the insurance money. Their boutique, they claimed, was chalking up losses.

After the arrest of the couple, the finished material and other “stolen” items were seized by the police. They were transporting these bags on Saturday morning to Hapur in order to destroy evidence, police said.

Police said they will get the theft FIR quashed and have already registered a new one for fraud, naming the couple and Gajpal.

The new FIR under sections of cheating and providing false evidence has been lodged at Sihani Gate police station. Gajpal is presently absconding , police said.