January 28: Paro police have arrested a man in his early fifties who has been working as the Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) manager in Paro town.

He reportedly lied to the police that he was robbed of nearly Nu. 3 million by four men armed with knives on Saturday while he was working late. He told police that after carrying out the robbery, the men tied him to a pillar in the office. He said he was able to free himself only after a relative arrived in the office to look for him. The relative, he told police, was sent by his brother with whom he was supposed to go to dinner. The brother has also been arrested.

Police told BBS that upon investigation they found that there has been no such robbery. They said the man has confessed that he had cooked up the story to mislead the authorities and cover up a shortfall of about Nu. 3.5 million in accounts.

The man has been transferred to Trongsa and he was supposed to hand over to a new manager. He could not hand over his responsibilities due to the shortfall. He had also issued fake receipts to seven people to cover up the deficit.

The FCB has also dispatched a high level team to audit and confirm the shortages.