Jammu shepherd faked abduction story to avoid sheep owners; booked

Jammu, Mar 23 (PTI) A shepherd here was booked for misleading police after he came up with a fake story of his abduction and later investigations revealed that he had done it to avoid paying money to sheep owners, police said on Saturday.

Kala Khan, a resident of Moghla-Teryath in Rajouri district, lodged a complaint at Police Station Nowabad in Jammu city, claiming that he was abducted and robbed of Rs 5 lakh by a group of four unidentified persons, a police spokesperson said.

The incident took place on March 18 when he reached Jammu from south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Khan said, adding that the money was from the sale of a herd of sheep and goats.

Sensing the gravity of the matter, a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code was immediately registered and during investigation by a special team, the needle of suspicion pointed on the complainant himself, the spokesperson said.

During thorough questioning, he said the complainant broke down and confessed that he had narrated a false story as he had to pay back around 8 Lakhs to different persons from Budhal, Samote, Moghla and Teryath area as he had taken goats and sheep from them to sell off in Kashmir.

“As he had no money because so many goats/sheep died due to illness while the owners were demanding their money back, he concocted a false story to get rid from them,” he said.

He said while the investigation of the case has been closed as not-admitted, proceedings under section 182 Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been initiated against the complainant for misleading police by reporting false story.