Bhubaneswar: Conspiracy by a bankrupt businessman to enact a burglary at his own showroom to fraudulently claim insurance money was fouled by the police in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Police said the businessman, identified as Santosh Kumar Moharana, and his 12 accomplices, were arrested and the fake burglary plan was foiled.
Stung by a severe financial crisis, 43-year-old Moharana was unable to pay the monthly rent of Rs 25,000 for his shop for the past 18 months. In a gesture of goodwill, the owner of the shop lent him Rs 3 lakh in November 2024 to help him.
However, there was no improvement in Moharana’s business prospects, and he allegedly made a plan to have his insured store ‘robbed’ to claim Rs 18 lakh insurance money. To execute his plan, Moharana roped in his former employee, Manoj Sejpada (34), who owns a plywood store in Mayurbhanj district.
The two planned to hire a group of burglars to steal goods from Moharana’s showroom and transport them to Sejpada’s shop in Mayurbhanj. They engaged 11 men from Balasore, who arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night and met at a roadside eatery for dinner. The conspiracy unravelled when an alert customer at the eatery overheard their conversation and informed police. As the group prepared to leave, Tamando police nabbed them for questioning.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to the plan, and told police that Moharana himself was the mastermind, DCP Jagmohan Meena said.
Police seized various housebreaking tools, including window cutting machines, face masks, flashlights, iron rods, gloves, knives, and screwdrivers.
Moharana had promised to pay each accomplice Rs 1,000 upfront and an additional Rs 5,000 after receiving the insurance payout.
Moharana admitted that he had learnt the fraudulent scheme from YouTube videos, where he recently watched a film demonstrating similar tactics, Meena said.
Investigation is underway to ascertain the antecedents of the 11 men, who are suspected to have been involved in previous burglary cases.
The 11 were identified by the police as Sk Maksat, 32, Sk Abdul Rehman, 33, Basanta Kumar Senapati, 36, Sk Raju, 22, Samir Jena, 32, Sk Nasir, 20, Harihara Sadual, 37, Hari Krushna Nayak, 53, Shyam Sundar Singh, 24, Sk Raja, 20, and Jisan Khan, 25.
