Delhi man loses phone while drunk, tells wife was robbed

A man who complained about his mobile phone being snatched in Outer Delhi’s Nangloi area was found to have cooked up the story to escape his wife’s anger after losing it in a drunken state, police said on Monday.

The incident came to light after a detailed investigation and CCTV analysis.

On August 31, a PCR call was received at the Nangloi police station regarding a snatching near Agarwal Tent House in Rajendra Park Extension. The caller, Ashok Kaushik, alleged that a biker had snatched his mobile phone and sped away, DCP (Outer) Sachin Sharma said.

Kaushik appeared to be under the influence of alcohol at the time he complained, police said.

All the same, an FIR was filed under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and an investigation was launched.

The CCTV footage from multiple nearby cameras was scanned, but no incident of snatching was observed.

“During the review of footage, a local man, Sabar Singh, was traced and questioned. He disclosed that the complainant had approached him to borrow his phone, but he refused since Kaushik was drunk. Following a brief argument, he left the spot,” the DCP added.

When confronted with the footage, Kaushik admitted that he had fabricated the story after he lost his phone under the influence of alcohol, and concocted a robbery story to escape his wife’s wrath.

His statement was later recorded before a judicial magistrate at Tis Hazari Court, where he confirmed that no snatching had taken place, police said.