A 46-year-old dairy farmer has alleged that he was been beaten and robbed of Rs 21.5 lakh in cash by a group of four men in Rajanukunte on the outskirts of Bangalore on Sunday.
The dairy farmer Anjan Gowda, who later managed to get himself admitted to a private hospital, told the police that the robbery took place when he was returning home with the cash on his motorcycle after selling a piece of land to a Bangalore based person.
The gang intercepted him, threw chilli powder into his eyes and tied his hands and legs before force-feeding him poison and snatching away a bag containing Rs 21.5 lakh. They took the money out of the bag, counted it and sped away leaving Anjan Gowda wounded, the complainant claimed.
The Rajanukunte police, who verified the scene of crime, suspect that the victim is making up to create an alibi. Though Anjan Gowda claimed that the muggers threw chilli powder into his eyes, and beat him up with iron rods, there were neither bruises nor any sign of chilli powder or poison on the body of the victim, a senior police officer said.
Moreover, the victim claimed that he along with three others sold a piece of 4 acre and 36 guntas of land in Gouribidanur for Rs 80 lakh. After registration of the land, the four had received the payment in Doddaballapur, shared the money equally among themselves and returned to their respective houses, the Anjan Gowda said in his complaint.
However, when the police asked him to provide the details and contact numbers of other three persons to question them, the victim claimed he does not have their names and numbers, the officer said.
"He is even saying that he does not know the details of the person, who purchased the land from him", a police officer, who is part of the investigation, said suspecting something fishy in the episode as narrated by the complainant.
A team of policemen has gone to Gouribidanur Tahsildar’s office to ascertain whether the victim had sold the land and to establish the identity of the others involved in the deal.
A background verification of the complainant by the police revealed that he was heavily indebted, prompting the police to suspect he is faking the robbery to gain sympathy from the money lenders. Anjan Gowda owns three milch cows
“But, we have taken up a case of robbery based on his statement and further investigation to ascertain the facts is underway”, an official from Rajanukunte police station said .
