‘Twist in robbery case’: Faridkot vendor spins ‘fake’ story to teach drug addicts lesson

Two day after a vegetable vendor claimed he was robbed of Rs 2.15 lakh by four men impersonating police officers, the Faridkot police have uncovered a surprising twist in the case.

What initially appeared to be a serious highway robbery has turned out to be a dramatic story scripted by the vendor himself — not for monetary gain, but to ensure swift police action against four youths who had allegedly harassed him on a deserted rural road in Faridkot late Wednesday evening.

According to investigators, the four men — one of them a serving police constable in Mansa and another a law graduate — are believed to be drug addicts. On Wednesday, they had intercepted the vendor near Koharwala village, dressed as police officials. They stopped his vehicle and conducted a fake narcotics search, causing the vendor considerable fear and distress.

The vendor tried to chase them but failed. However, he managed to note down their vehicle number. Believing a ‘robbery’ allegation would compel immediate police action, he approached the police with a cooked-up story of cash being looted.

Acting on the complaint, the police traced the vehicle and soon identified all four accused. During investigation, the truth emerged — no money had been robbed, and the vendor had exaggerated the incident to “teach the drug addicts a lesson” for harassing him in a secluded area.

Police said the four men had no clear motive for stopping the vendor except their intoxicated state. All four have now been identified, and further action is underway.

However, the case has now created a technical dilemma for the police. With an FIR already registered against "unknown persons" for a Rs 2.5-lakh robbery, police must now amend the FIR. Police are contemplating to book the vendor for providing partially false information but also to teach lesson to the drug addict youths for impersonation and harassment.