A recovery officer of a private bank, who tried to hoodwink the police and the bank by with a false story of being robbed, has been caught.
Mallikarjun Sajjan (34), working in Kotak Mahindra bank, had told the Gangavati rural police on Monday evening that he was returning to Gangavati on his motorcycle with cash of Rs. 10.74 lakh, the loan recovery amount from farmers in various villages including Sahilgram, Boodhgumpa, and Karatagi in Gangavati taluk. As he had stopped for a while near Kesaratti canal road, two men robbed him of the cash after hurling chilli powder in his eyes and stabbing him in the abdomen.
Police verified the scene of offence and the contradictory statements of Mallikarjun, and interrogated him. He is said to have admitted to cooking up the story.
According to police, Mallikarjun had got a job in another bank in Raichur and was yet to be relieved. In order to become wealthy overnight he had played the drama. He injured himself besides hurling chilli powder to prove that he was robbed and hid the cash in a bush near the scene of offence before utilising Rs. 1 lakh to repay his loans.
Police, who have recovered the cash intact, would be producing Mallikarjun before the court to be remanded to judicial custody.
K. Tyagarajan, Superintendent of Police, complimented his staff for detecting the crime and recovering the cash.
