Mumbai: The sleuths of crime branch unit 2 arrested a 27-year-old man who orchestrated a theft of Rs 3.64 lakh and then lodged a fake complaint at the police station. The accused's plan of getting away with the crime was foiled when the CCTV camera footage of the spot identified the robber, who turned out to be a resident of the same neighborhood as the complainant's. Probe also revealed that the accused had met the complainant soon after the robbery, and accordingly the latter was arrested for theft charges.

According to police sources, on January 18, the owner of a south Mumbai-based toy shop had instructed his employee, Imran Iqbal Memon, 27, a collection agent to collect the money from various toy shops in the area. Subsequently, Memon collected the money worth Rs 3.64 lakh and stashed it in a leather bag and was walking past a toy shop in Pydhonie. Then an unknown person allegedly cut the leather bag's belt from behind, injuring Memon and fled from the spot.

Memon then informed his boss and approached police to lodge a complaint against the robber and a probe began. Police scrutinised the CCTV camera footage and identified the accused, who was captured in the camera. Following the leads, police suspected Memon's involvement in the robbery and established links between him and the accused as they lived in the same neighborhood in Mumbra. Based on this information, police sent teams to Mumbra on Friday, but could not locate the robber. Later, when police interrogated Memon, he spilled the beans and confessed to his crime.

A police official said, Memon said that he met the robber after staging a robbery and discussed the consequences at length. Accordingly, Memon was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.