Kerala gold store owner reports robbery, cops say false complaint to get insurance

Investigating officials told TNM that the owner of the shop, on being questioned, admitted that no gold from the store had been stolen.
Kerala gold store owner reports robbery, cops say false complaint to get insurance
Kerala gold store owner reports robbery, cops say false complaint to get insurance

On August 21, Gold Heart, a store in Thrissur’s Moonu Peedika, reported that gold worth Rs 1.5 crore had been robbed from their store’s underground vault. However, after a preliminary investigation, the police officials told TNM on Monday that no gold had been stolen from the jewellery store in Thrissur’s Kaipamangalam.

After prolonged interrogation of the owner and his assistant, the investigating officers concluded that the complaint was false and that the owner, who is in debt, had most likely filed a false complaint to claim insurance money.

“When we searched the store, we saw that the owner did not have any real gold as stock. The inventory, which was on display for sale, was imitation gold. We are still investigating other details regarding the incident,” Kaipamangalam Sub-inspector, who is investigating the case, told TNM.

According to reports, the owner had taken a loan after showing that he had six kilograms of gold as inventory. He later reportedly insured this sum for Rs 3.5 crore.

Reports also stated the underground vault, where the stock had been kept, had not been forced open but was opened with a key. In his initial complaint, the owner had said that robbers had broken open the vault and stolen the jewellery.

The case was initially being investigated by Irinjalakuda Deputy Superintendent of Police Famous Varghese and his team. Speaking to TNM earlier, the DySP had said that the owner had not maintained any stock register for the last six months.

Investigations have also found that the owner had unsuccessfully started several business ventures in Thrissur and Kodungallur, following which he had accumulated debt. Police officials are investigating more on his claims. 

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