CHENNAI: To compensate for the losses he incurred in online gambling, a man connived with his relative take away his wife’s jewellery when the family was away and then enacted a burglary drama, sending police on a wild goose chase for a couple of days.

Near midnight last Sunday, B Janardhanan (44) of EGP Nagar inAyanambakkamapproached the Tiruverkadu police claiming that his house was broken into and about 103 sovereigns jewellery stolen.

The man who works abroad had come home on leave. He went with his wife and other family members to Anna Nagar on Sunday evening. When they returned around 10 pm, they found the house broken into.

After registering a case, the officials brought in fingerprint experts and formed special teams. But within a day, it became evident that they were being taken for a ride.

“There was no sign of forced entry, but the front door was open, which itself was suspicious. But, we continued with our investigations,” said an official. Perusing the CCTV footage from the neighbourhood, the police zeroed down on a few persons and summoned them for inquiry. That was when Janardhanan approached them seeking to withdraw the complaint.

It was then revealed that Janardhanan gave the house key to a relative, S Thyagarajan (38) of Vadapalani, who took the jewels as planned when the family went out.

Police said Janardhanan, who lost money in online gambling, got his wife’s jewellery stolen and pledged about 40 sovereigns. The police recovered 60 sovereigns from Thyagarajan’s house.

A senior officer said that they were considering taking action against him for filing a false complaint.