Maha man held for false complaint of Rs 28 lakh liquor robbery

A tempo driver was arrested for filing a false police complaint that a Rs 28 lakh liquor consignment he was ferrying was robbed on March 22, an official said Saturday.

Dost Mohammad Khan (38) had complained that he was assaulted by three unidentified persons on March 22 while driving a tempo carrying liquor from Nashik to Mumbai, Inspector Dattu Bhoye of the Kasara police station said.

"His complaint stated that the men drove away with the liquor-laden tempo. However, our probe, which included scanning CCTV footage of the stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway where he claimed he was robbed, showed that no such incident had taken place," Bhoye said.

On being interrogated, Khan confessed that he had cooked up the story, Bhoye said.

"We managed to recover Rs 25.50 lakh worth of whisky as well as the tempo. Khan, his accomplices Roshan Shaikh and Manoj Paraswani have been arrested. Hunt is on for the fourth person," Bhoye added.

A case has been registered for robbery under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at the Kasara police station on the basis of a complaint filed by the manager of the transport company owning the tempo, he said.