Assessing Loss Due to Theft

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Assessing Loss Due to Theft Contd...

On hearing this, Chetty was quite stunned. He anxiously opened his shop. After glancing in, he heaved a sigh of relief. Everything in his shop was intact. The people who had gathered were also convinced that all was well with Chetty's shop and soon dispersed. Later, Chetty stood outside his shop to observe Rao's shop. Meanwhile, someone informed Rao about the burglary. When Rao reached his shop, people surrounded him and enquired about the possible losses. While some people were merely inquisitive, some were sympathetic. Even Chetty forgot his differences with Rao, and went up to him and consoled him. Rao was inconsolable on seeing the state of his shop after the burglary. The burglars had taken everything they could lay their hands on. The next day, when Chetty came to open his shop, he saw two people discussing something with Rao. Overcoming his hesitation, he approached them and asked them what they were doing. The persons introduced themselves as claims adjusters working for SS Insurance Company.

Since Chetty was also a customer of SS Insurance Company, he invited both of them for a cup of tea at his shop. They accepted Chetty's invitation and told him that they would come to his shop after finishing their work at Rao's shop. They also told Chetty that at the moment they were busy calculating the value of the stolen property.

The two claims adjusters went to Chetty's shop after finishing their work at Rao's shop. While they were having tea, they talked about the different claims they had settled during their long experience as claims adjusters. One of the claims adjuster expressed doubt about the genuineness of the burglary that had taken place at Rao's shop. He revealed that the account books in Rao's shop were showing an abnormal mismatch in values. While Rao's purchases were quite high, his sales were quite low. He felt that considering the festival season that was going on, sales should have been a lot higher.

"Anyway, how are the sales in your shop?" asked one of the claims adjuster. Though initially Chetty hesitated to tell the exact figure for his own reasons, he later did so and admitted that the sales showed by Rao were quite low.

On hearing this from Chetty, the claims adjusters got more suspicious, and asked him to tell them confidentially about other possible business matters that could have made Rao stage the burglary. The claims adjusters then came to know about the road widening scheme.

"Now I see the reason behind the whole incident," said one of the claims adjusters.

"But it is difficult to prove that the burglary was staged as Rao is vehemently claiming that his shop has been burgled," said the other claims adjuster.

"I have my own way of making him admit the truth," said the first claims adjuster.

He requested Chetty to summon someone who was working in Rao's shop before the burglary had taken place. Chetty called the boy who swept and cleaned the floor in Rao's shop. The boy was asked to tell them what exactly had happened at the shop. After much persuasion, he confessed that Rao had staged the burglary. Later, it was revealed that Rao had not even lodged a complaint with the police.

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