With the police hard on their heels for the Rs 9-crore Thane heist, two of the accused decided to turn themselves in, but could not bring themselves to part with the loot. So, they staged a fake robbery, this time posing as the victims.

“On Tuesday night, they surrendered at the Vani police station and claimed that they had been robbed by a group of 5 to 6 people who fled with Rs 1.4 crore. They claimed that the robbers assaulted them with a huge rock,” said a police officer from Nashik Rural Police.