Phulbani: Police have arrested a man who had alleged that bike-borne goons had robbed him, turning the entire case on its head.

M.D. Nurali, 32, lodged a complaint with police on April 3 that robbers on a motorcycle had snatched a bag containing Rs 5.23 lakh in cash near Patangi.

"Nurali, employee of a private school in Kandhamal's Daringibadi, had faked the robbery to swindle the cash," said Daringibadi police station inspector Srikant Khamari.

"He has confessed to the crime. He had borrowed money and was facing problems in making repayments to the private moneylender. So he hatched the conspiracy to embezzle the school's cash," the police said.

The "scripted" loot in April took place when he was on his way to deposit the cash in the school's bank account.

The police said there were loose ends in Nurali's statement during investigation.

"He had earlier claimed that he had tried to resist the goons, but there was no injury mark on his body. His statements were replete with inconsistencies. We were doubtful about the complaint," Khamari said.

Later, the cops narrowed their investigation around him and subjected Nurali to intense interrogations. "Initially, he refused to budge and denied any involvement. However, he spilled the beans later," Khamari said.

The accused had deposited the cash in his personal account and in the account of his spouse. Both accounts have been made inoperative.

Nurali, who had no past history of crime, was later remanded to judicial custody under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.