Barely 24 hours ago, he was the perceived victim, for reporting that unidentified gunmen had snatched Rs 15.1 lakh from him.

On Thursday, Dara Mollah, small-time garments merchant from Metiabruz, paid the price for being too clever by half. In the face of police interrogation, he confessed to masterminding the heist to get out of a payment commitment to out-station suppliers.

Mollah was arrested on Thursday. A major part of the sum he claimed was stolen was recovered from his house. “We rounded him up from his house, where we found Rs. 14.1 lakh. The rest of the money was distributed among his three associates. We hope to net them soon,” said Deb Kumar Ganguly, superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas.

The first breakthrough in the case came when police learnt that the motorcycle used by the miscreants belonged to Mollah himself. “We found a two-wheeler parked behind his house and the registration number matched that of the vehicle used in the heist,” Ganguly added.

After night-long grilling, Mollah confessed. “While a section of the force was carrying out raids at Metiabruz and Rabindranagar, besides Howrah’s Jagachha and Uluberia, the garments merchant was being grilled at the police station. He came up with contradictory statements and then, confessed,” said R.K Singh, additional superintendent of police (industrial).

According to Mollah, two motorcycle-borne men, toting firearms, stopped by his rickshaw (and not a Maruti, as he had claimed earlier) on Karbala Road around 1.30 pm. “I was carrying Rs 15.1 lakh in a briefcase to hand over to merchants from Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Suddenly, the motorcyclists fired twice in the air, before snatching the briefcase from me,” Mollah told the police.

Investigations revealed that Mollah’s accomplices — driver Pappu, Abbas and Nur — were trusted lieutenants and visited his house every day. Though Pappu owns an electric goods shop, all of them helped him run the business. “None of them have a criminal record and the money was stolen out of sheer greed,” was how Ganguly explained the motive behind the drama.

The police have impounded the motorcycle and the Maruti. “We have alerted the neighbouring police stations and handed over a detailed description of the absconding trio. Raids are also being carried out. The money will be handed over to its owner once the court gives the nod,” said a police officer.