House help held for stealing ₹3.56-cr antique jewellery from SoBo merchant

The police said that the accused found that the bathroom cupboard contained valuable jewellery, managed to open it with a duplicate key, and stole the items

MUMBAI: A 44-year-old house help from Kalyan has been arrested for allegedly stealing antique gold and diamond jewellery worth ₹3.56 crore from a merchant’s apartment in Marine Drive. The police said the theft took place between April and July, when the family was abroad. After seven months of investigation, the police have recovered about 80% of the stolen valuables.

A 44-year-old house help from Kalyan has been arrested for allegedly stealing antique gold and diamond jewellery worth ₹3.56 crore from a merchant’s apartment in Marine Drive. (HT Photo / Hindustan Times)

According to the Marine Drive police, an FIR was registered on July 27 after Harsh Dalal, 65, who lives at Bharatiya Bhawan in Marine Drive, filed a complaint. Deputy commissioner of police Pravin Kumar Munde said the jewellery, which was kept in a wardrobe inside the bathroom, was last seen on April 27, when the family left for Dubai.

During their absence, only Dalal’s 93-year-old mother and four house helps, Dinesh Nivate, 46, Ranjit Bhuya, 29, Deepak, 35, and Sugandha Mandavkar, 47, were at home. “We questioned the four househelps for several days and even carried searches at their premises, but could not get any clues,” said Nilesh Bagul, senior inspector at the Marine Drive police station.

Investigations later revealed that Mandavkar, the caretaker of Dalal’s elderly mother, had gone out of town for a wedding on May 1. She had recommended a temporary substitute, Archana Sunil Salvi, 43, a Kalyan resident. The complainant’s mother agreed to the temporary arrangement, but other family members were unaware of it. Mandavkar could resume work only on May 10 due to illness. “After returning from the marriage, Mandavkar could not immediately resume work, as she was unwell and eventually resumed work only on May 10,” said Bagul.

The police then questioned Salvi who did not reveal much. “However, her bank statements, call records, and other digital trails gave us strong clues. We found she was in contact with jewellers and had tried to sell 1,437 grams of gold,” said a police officer.

The police also noticed unexplained cash deposits in the accounts of her family members and found that she had quit her job shortly after the theft. “We have arrested her and recovered 1,249 grams of gold jewellery and diamond jewellery,” said assistant police inspector Pradeep Chaudhary from the Marine Drive police station.

The police said that Salvi found that the bathroom cupboard contained valuable jewellery, managed to open it with a duplicate key, and stole the items. She has been booked under section 306 (theft by a clerk or servant of property in their master’s possession) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.