NEW DELHI: Chhotu and Raju loved the biryani at Deez in Sarita Vihar G-block so much that they decided the restaurant simply had to be flush with cash.

Every time they ate there, they salivated equally over the spiced rice and the thought of the cash box behind the counter.

Monday evening, they made up their minds to have the cash instead of biryani. But it wasn’t their night. When the restaurant closed and the staff left, Tuesday was getting into its stride.

The biryani-loving duo crept up to the backdoor with their faces masked to beat the restaurant’s cameras. It had been a long, muggy wait, and by the time they overcame the backdoor lock, they were steaming like two ‘deghs’ themselves. The cash box was empty.

Chhotu and Raju were furious. They had sweated and toiled in vain. They ransacked the restaurant till it resembled their shattered dream, and then, to make the best of a bad situation, they sat down to eat the night’s leftover biryani.

They ate a platter each, with raita and gravy, and scattered the rest on the floor to make the staff toil in the morning. It was time to sign out.

The manager’s laptop beckoned them from the counter, and the friends, who didn’t know Pentium from mutton, took it away hoping to sell it. It was a big mistake.

The duo’s antics were visible on CCTV, but their faces weren’t. They might have got away with the crime, but the laptop ruined their plans.

On Wednesday, they were waiting for a buyer at a Sarita Vihar park when a police team quizzed them. DCP Chinmoy Biswal said their contradictory answers did them in. A serving spoon they threw on the road has been recovered. They have been booked for theft and trespassing, and will have to go without biryani for a while.

