Goons vandalise shop, steal Rs 22,000 after owner refuses to give change

The goons vandalised Khan's tile shop after he went to lodge a complaint

The demonetisation drive seems to be triggering the wrong kind of change. A Mankhurd businessman was at the receiving end of the ire of a furious duo after he told them he did not have the change asked in exchange of a defunct Rs 500 note. The goons verbally abused the shopkeeper, Mohammed Imran Khan, and when he went to file a complaint at the police station, vandalised his shop and stole Rs 22,000.

Mohammed Imran Khan

The incident took place on November 22 at around 10 pm. "I was about to shut my shop, when two youths came outside and first asked for directions to an address. Later, they asked me if I had change for the old R500 note. I said that I didn't have any and they started verbally abusing me," Khan told mid-day.

"Thankfully, a police patrol car was passing by just then. They heard noises and came to my shop. But after seeing the police, one of the youths escaped, while cops caught the other."

After this, Khan went to lodge a complaint at the Mankhurd police station. Just then, he got a call telling him that some people came to his shop and vandalised it. "I immediately reached my shop and found that each and every thing was broken. They have even stolen R22,000 in cash that I'd kept in a drawer. I took CCTV footage of the whole incident from a nearby shop and gave it to the police."

Accused roam free
An officer from Mankhurd police station said, "After getting Khan's complaint, we have registered an FIR under Section 380 (Theft in dwelling, house, etc.), 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) and 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the IPC."

It has been a week since the incident, but none of the accused have been arrested. The accused who was caught that day was later let out on bail.