The front gate of the Deys’ Baisakhi Abasan apartment. A Telegraph picture

A Salt Lake couple are under the police scanner for allegedly faking a dacoity at their Baisakhi Abasan apartment.

“The complaint of dacoity lodged by Prannoy and Chameli Dey with Bidhannagar (East) police station has been found to be false,” said Supratim Sarkar, the superintendent of police (North 24-Parganas).

“We are contemplating action against the couple under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code (false information with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person),” Sarkar added.

The cops, however, are clueless about what had led the couple to fake the dacoity. Some officers suspect Prannoy, who had run up a debt of more than a lakh, was eyeing compensation from some insurance company by filing a false complaint.

Since the Deys have been denying the charge, the sleuths will move court soon with a plea to allow them to take the couple to Hyderabad for a narco analysis. The couple cannot be subjected to the test without their consent.

The Deys had alleged that an armed gang of four had raided their C-13 address at Baisakhi Abasan around 8.30pm on February 10 and looted cash and jewellery worth lakhs from an almirah. Prannoy, a lower-division clerk in a government office, suspended six months ago, was reportedly not in the house.

“The couple had claimed that the gang had beaten up Chameli and their mentally-challenged son, sprayed chilli powder on Chameli’s eyes and tied her hands with a cord before robbing the valuables,” an officer said.

Soon after the probe began, the sleuths came across various inconsistencies in the couple’s statements and started suspecting that they had filed a false complaint.

“For instance, we did not find any trace of chilli powder or any such substance in the two-roomed apartment,” said an investigating officer.

The Deys alleged that the dacoits had opened the almirah using a gadget they had brought. “Chameli was categorical that the gang did not ask her for the key,” the officer said. “But a forensic test of the levers of the almirah’s lock revealed that they were opened by one of the two keys that Chameli and Prannoy always carried.”

According to Chameli, the dacoits were wearing gloves used by motorcyclists — ones that keep the fingers exposed. “If the criminals were wearing such gloves, they would have left their fingerprints in the house. But we failed to trace any fingerprint,” the officer pointed out.

Immediately after the “dacoity”, neighbours found Chameli sitting on the floor of her house, her hands bound with a string.

“Dacoits never use such flimsy strings to tie up their victims,” the officer said.

“Besides, there were no witnesses to the dacoity. Barely 200 feet away, a group of youths were erecting a pandal for Saraswati puja that was to be held the next day. None of the youths and other local residents questioned was aware of any criminal activity in the vicinity that night,” the officer added.

The police said that before his suspension, Dey used to earn around Rs 1.2 lakh a year. “Of late, he had started a money-lending business with his wife and was involved in realty deals as a broker,” said police superintendent Sarkar, adding that his financial details were being probed.