Jeweller staged acid attack, heist to dodge debt; arrested: Police

Mandya: What was first reported as an acid attack and jewellery heist has turned out to be a staged hoax.Police said Jitendra Singh, owner of Mahalakshmi Jewellery Shop in Kyathanahalli, Pandavapura taluk, claimed that unidentified miscreants attacked him with acid and fled with 170g of gold, 8kg of silver ornaments and the shop's CCTV DVR on February 10. The incident caused panic in the area.Singh, who migrated from Rajasthan one-and-a-half years ago and set up his shop in Pandavapura, was reportedly under mounting financial pressure. He had allegedly borrowed money from creditors and held gold pledged by customers. As repayment demands grew, he was said to have devised a plan to escape his liabilities.To make the story believable, Singh allegedly applied a mild jewellery-cleaning chemical to his face to mimic acid burns.Police were alerted on Feb 12 after a memo from a private hospital stated that Singh had injuries from an acid attack. "However, even after two days, he did not file a complaint," SP VJ Shobharani said. The police then summoned him. "He told them he was attacked with acid," she said. He also stated that the shop was located around 100 metres from the police station.Investigators grew suspicious when they noticed the burn marks were superficial and limited to certain areas, while sensitive parts like the eyes were untouched. During questioning, inconsistencies in his statements surfaced. Singh eventually confessed that he had fabricated the entire episode to justify shutting the shop and later leaving for Rajasthan, citing the ‘robbery' as the reason, police said.Police later recovered the CCTV DVR, which had been dumped in a water body.Kyathanahalli police have registered a case against Singh for misleading authorities and filing a false complaint.