Girlfriend demanding

Had his girlfriend been less demanding, Mohammad Shahzad (21) would still have his job and his reputation intact. Before he dumped his conscience, the young medical sales executive had tried to wean the woman off her Goa fancy with a flattering tattoo, a mark of his devotion for her birthday.

But when that didn't please her, he pocketed his firm's funds, told the police he had been robbed, and took her off on a long seaside holiday to Goa. Shahzad had faked the robbery in August, just four months into his job. "He claimed he was robbed by three men near the Panchkuian Road railway overbridge.

We investigated and found his call record did not tally with his story. We caught him when he tried to sell his expensive mobile, which he originally claimed was taken away by the robbers," said DCP (south) Chhaya Sharma. While sources said Shahzad had made off with a large amount - the company's collection from his area -the police have so far recovered Rs 20,600 from him.

"On August 22, Shahzad, called the police control room and reported that three men on a bike had stopped him on Panchkuian Road and snatched the sales money that he had collected from a client in Connaught Place and was taking to his office in Karol Bagh. He claimed he was held at knifepoint while the men snatched the money and his mobile phone," said Sharma.

The police had registered a case on his complaint at Mandir Marg police station. Chief investigator of the case, inspector Anil Sharma, said Shahzad's lie was nailed last Monday when they were tipped off about a man trying to sell an expensive mobile phone at Chandan Holla in Fatehpur Beri. It was Sahzad. The police picked him up on suspicion, and during interrogation he confessed the whole plot.

The police said Shahzad and his girlfriend had returned to the city just four days ago, and he had resigned from his position immediately after that. "He thought that the truth would not come to light if he sold his mobile phone to a stranger. He was carrying Rs 5,500 at the time he was caught with the expensive handset," said the DCP. Shahzad had faked the robbery in August, just four months into his job. He claimed he was robbed by three men near Panchkuian Road. His phone records didn't tally though.