The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police on Sunday arrested a 24-year old cab driver for registering a fake case against four Nigerians alleging that they robbed his car. The accused Ankur Kumar, a resident of Meerut, was arrested and the white Wagon-R was recovered from his possession. The accused told police that he had failed to pay the EMI following which he concocted the plot.
Amit Kumar Shrivastava, CO Greater Noida-I, said that the accused had got the cab from cab aggregator Ola in April 2017. He had paid Rs 25,000 non-refundable money as down payment and Rs 950 per day for a fixed tenure. The accused worked for some months for the company, and later found himself in trouble due to insufficient bookings.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, he made a phone call to police and reported that four Nigerians had booked his cab from Akshardham metro station to Crossing Republic in Ghaziabad and robbed his vehicle. He said the Nigerians were speaking in English which he could not understand. The driver said that the four people later took him to Greater Noida and robbed his car. "They dumped me near Ryan International School and fled with the car," Ankur told police.
Police officers sensed a foul play and called the complainant for questioning. However, he switched off his phone and went incommunicado. Police launched a search and arrested him along with the same cab from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida on Sunday. The accused confessed to have registered a fake case. "I was burdened and was unable to pay the EMI due to low bookings. I visited a friend and secretly made a fake booking using his phone. Then I came to Greater Noida and parked the car in a friend's place and faked police about the robbery," Ankur said.
He said that he got married last year and his wife was expecting in a few days. "It was also difficult for me to meet the medical expenses. I concocted the plot to evade EMI and recuse myself," he said.
When asked why he named Nigerian for the incident, he said that the Nigerians are usual suspects. "I thought police will believe my narrative and I will escape from this mess," he added.
Police have found the cab which had a doctored number plate. An FIR under Section 420, 482, 472 and 182 of IPC has been registered against the accused. "He will be produced in court and sent to judicial custody on Monday," said police.