Office boy held for stealing Rs 22 lakh and lodging FIR for theft

The Matunga police have arrested a 22-year-old office boy for stealing Rs 20 lakh from his employer, and then registering an FIR against an unknown person for the theft. The police arrested Mohammad Irfan Yusuf Shaikh, who works at finance firm Prafful Bhat & Associates, on Sunday.

Collaborative effort:u00a0The accused, Mohammad Yusuf Shaikh, asked a friend of his to snatch the bag of money and later claimed that someone had
stolen and run away with it

According to the police, the employer Prafful Bhat, owner of the firm, had approached them on September 11.

"Bhat had sent Santosh Sasulkar, his office boy, to ICICI Bank in Wadala to withdraw Rs 40 lakh. As it was a large amount and risky to be carried alone by one person, Bhat asked another office boy, Yusuf Shaikh, to help him," said Dattatray Karale, deputy commissioner of police, zone IV.

Cash is in the bag
The two decided to split the amount and place it in two bags, each containing Rs 20 lakh.

When the two were about to get into a taxi from Five Gardens, Matunga, a person posing as a policeman approached them and snatched the bag from Sasulkar's hands. But he didn't take the bag from Shaikh, who took the cash to his owner and narrated the incident. He then lodged an FIR against the unknown person.

"When we started investigations, it surprised us that the poser had snatched only one bag," said Shivaji Patil, police sub-inspector of Matunga police station. Suspecting something wrong, the police questioned Shaikh many times, and each time, his version of the story changed. After being interrogated several times, Shaikh finally confessed to the crime.

Shaikh had asked his friend Yasin to pose as a policeman, approach them at Five Gardens and run away with the bag held by Sasulkar, said Sridhar Sawant, police inspector (crime) at Matunga police station.

The Matunga police have arrested Mohammad Irfan Yusuf Shaikh under sections 408 (criminal breach of trust by servant or clerk) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal code. He has been remanded in police custody till October 3.

According to the police, Yusuf Shaikh needed the money as he was going to get married on October 4. "We have recovered Rs 13,36,000 from Yasin's home," said Sawant. u00a0

Friend in ‘deed'
Mohammad Irfan Yusuf Shaikh had asked his friend Yasin to pose as a policeman, and lie in wait at Five Gardens to snatch and run away with the bag held by the other office office boy Sasulkar, said Sridhar Sawant, inspector (crime) at Matunga police station. The police have arrested Shaikh under sections 408 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.