Police have arrested a driver for allegedly cooking up a false story that his tempo loaded with fans worth over Rs 10 lakh was robbed between Navi Mumbai and Bhandup in Mumbai, although a probe later revealed that he himself had stored the stock, an official said on Thursday.

The driver, Ishtiak Ahmed Arshadali Ansari (30) and his associate Tasmim Akhlak Ahmed Shaikh (23), both from Bhiwandi in Thane district, were arrested on Wednesday and the stock of fans was recovered along with the tempo from suburban Bhandup, senior inspector of the Crime unit- I, Anil Deshmukh (Thane police commissionerate), said. ?

On March 30, the stock of fans was loaded at Vashi in Navi Mumbai for delivery. However, the driver of the tempo later complained to the Mumbra police that some unidentified persons waylaid them and robbed the vehicle loaded with the fans, he said. "Based on the complaint lodged by the driver, the Mumbra police filed an offence and initiated a probe. The crime branch officials examined the CCTV footage from the route between Vashi and Bhandup and later received a tip-off that the driver himself had stolen the fans with the help of his associates," Deshmukh said. ?

Acting on the tip-off, they arrested the driver and recovered the entire stock of fans valued at Rs 10,06,848 and the tempo valued at Rs 11.60 lakh, the official added. The accused had broken the GPRS system installed on the tempo and also the relay unit, before taking with the fans at some location in Bhandup for hiding, he said. "The accused driver then approached the police and cooked up a false story that four persons on two motorbikes had waylaid them and robbed them of the tempo and the stock of fans," Deshmukh said.

(With PTI inputs)