New Delhi:
A 73-year-old man and his son were on Tuesday arrested for allegedly stealing books worth Rs 3.24 crore in Hyderabad to recover the unpaid rent from the tenant, a police official said.
The two stole the books from their godown to recover the unpaid rent for over a year from the tenant and were sold to a Mumbai-based proprietor Dhamjee.
P Narsimha Reddy, his son P Srinivas Reddy and the proprietor of a book store in Hyderabad, who had purchased the books, were arrested and the books recovered, the police said.
The books were stocked by N Devadiga, who had taken the godown on lease from Reddy, owner of the premises, in April 2016. Devadiga could not pay the Rs 50,000 monthly rent for about 14 months, amounting to Rs 7 lakh, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said.
The stolen books were transported in 10 trucks to a book centre at Begumpet and its proprietor Md Raziuddin, purchased the books for Rs 15 lakh. He later sold the books to the Mumbai-based proprietor, the police said.
Police said Devadiga had stocked 1.29 lakh books which were meant for distribution in Telangana and Chhattisgarh states.
Devadiga lodged a complaint on July 9 based on which a case was registered, police said, adding that efforts were on to nab Dhamjee, who is absconding.
(With PTI inputs)
