Staged fake robbery to claim insurance money; factory owner and son arrested

SURAT: A factory owner, his son, and their driver have been arrested in Surat for staging a fake robbery at their own company to claim an insurance amount of Rs 20 crore. The arrested are Devendra Choudhary, owner of DK Sons Diamond Factory, his son Piyush Choudhary, and driver Vikas Bishnoi.

Police confirmed that no diamonds were actually stolen from the factory in Surat and noted that Choudhary had taken the insurance policy only eight days earlier. On Sunday, Choudhary had lodged a complaint at the Kapodara Police Station claiming that diamonds and cash worth Rs 32.53 crore were stolen after the safe at his DK Sons unit in Kapodara was broken open.

During the inspection, senior police officials found the safe damaged and CCTV cameras broken. However, footage from a nearby building showed that the alleged robbers had arrived in two auto-rickshaws and left in the same vehicles. By Monday, police identified both auto drivers. On questioning, they revealed that they had been hired-one from Surat railway station and another from Varachha.

Police had been suspicious of Devendra Choudhary’s statement from the beginning. He even tried to mislead the probe by pointing suspicion toward a recently dismissed employee. According to Surat Deputy Police Commissioner Alok Kumar, Devendra Choudhary, who was under heavy debt, staged the robbery to claim the insurance money. Eventually, Devendra Choudhary confessed that he planned the fake heist, with driver Vikas arranging and assisting in the execution.