Butta Singh, a 45-year-old AC technician, was arrested for staging a burglary at his Uttam Nagar home in a bid to clear his growing debts, police reported on Monday.
Facing severe financial losses, Singh allegedly stole gold jewellery from his own house and falsely reported a break-in. On March 21, he lodged a complaint claiming that burglars had stolen jewellery worth lakhs and Rs45,000 in cash. However, upon investigation, authorities found no signs of forced entry. CCTV footage revealed that Singh was the only person entering and leaving his home within a span of nine minutes.
Further investigation into Singh’s phone revealed messages from a finance company regarding gold pledges. When confronted with the evidence, Singh admitted to stealing the jewellery and mortgaging it to repay loans taken for his shop and a taxi purchase.
Police recovered a gold necklace set and a ring, while other stolen items were found to have been mortgaged at a pawn shop. Singh, who had no prior criminal record, has been booked under relevant legal sections.
