Jeweller stages acid attack, arrested in Pandavapura village

MANDYA: A jewellery store owner has been arrested for staging an acid attack on himself to deceive his creditors and escape paying off his debts.

Jitendra Singh, who runs a jewellery store at Kyathanahalli village in Pandavapura taluk, had allegedly taken loans from several people to buy gold and had also taken some jewellery items as pawn.

To avoid paying off his debts, Singh staged an acid attack on himself, pouring a chemical substance on his face to fake an acid attack. He then lodged a complaint with the police, claiming that robbers had attacked him and stolen gold and silver worth lakhs of rupees.

However, the police investigation revealed that Singh had staged the attack to deceive his creditors. The CCTV footage, which was initially missing, was later found in a nearby pond, and it showed Singh pouring the chemical substance on his face.

The police investigation also revealed that Singh had handed over his gold and silver items to a friend before staging the attack. He had also planned to flee to Rajasthan. Singh’s plan was foiled when the police discovered the truth, and he was arrested for his role in the staged acid attack.

Mandya SP Dr Shobharani V J said, “On February 12, we received information about a medico-legal case involving acid attack. Since the victim had not lodged a complaint, Jitendra, who hails from Rajasthan and was running Mahalakshmi Jewellers, was questioned. He claimed that on February 10, two unidentified people stole 170 gm of gold and 8 kg of silver from his shop after attacking him with acid. Half of his face scarred”.

“Jitendra claimed that the CCTV camera and DVR were also stolen, but it was found in a lake. He had in fact, handed over 8 gm of gold and 1 kg of silver to his friend Aryan. He would buy gold on credit from Mysuru and had planned to cheat his creditors. He had planned to wind up his business and go back to Rajasthan”, the SP added.