Help, driver held for theft at Noida house, ₹7 lakh recovered
On September 27,a complaint was filed alleging that ₹15 lakh cash had been stolen from his residence and that they suspect their domestic help for the crime
The Noida police arrested a house help and driver employed at the house of a Noida businessman for allegedly making off with ₹8 lakh cash from the home last week, senior police officers said on Friday, adding that while initially the complainant had reported that ₹15 lakh cash stolen from his home, it was later ascertained through inquiry that only ₹8 lakh was taken.
On September 27, Phase-1 police station received a complaint from Sector 14 resident Karan Garg, 32, alleging that ₹15 lakh cash had been stolen from his residence and that they suspect their domestic help for the crime, an officer said.
Garg runs two factories in Noida’s Phase-1 area, manufacturing electrical equipment, and lives in a four-storey home in Sector 14, Noida, the officer said.
According to Amit Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Phase-1 police station, Garg told police that on the evening of September 26, he and his wife Rashi had left for a family function when the theft took place.
“His senior citizen parents and domestic help, Shalini Pandey, 20, were at home. On September 27, when Garg’s mother stepped out for her morning walk, she found the gate already unlocked. She became suspicious and went to the second floor to check their wardrobe. She found it unlocked and ₹15 lakh cash missing,” the officer said, quoting the complaint.
“An FIR was registered against the help under Section 306 (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” the SHO said.
Senior officers said the domestic help has been working with the family for three years and lived in the servant quarters of the home.
“Pandey was present at the home when complainant’s mother discovered the theft. During inquiry, it was found that the complainant had lost only ₹8 lakh, and not ₹15 lakh as he had claimed,” said SHO Kumar.
Police found that two days prior to the theft, Pandey and Ravi Khan, 30, who was recently sacked from his post as driver with the family, had hatched a plan to carry out the theft.
“Pandey aided Khan’s entry to the home by unlocking the doors and the locks of the locker where the cash was kept in a bag. Khan left the house with the stolen cash while Pandey stayed back, in order to evade suspicion,” said SHO Kumar.
Khan fled with the money to his home town in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, said the officer.
“On Thursday, Khan came to Noida with the cash to pay off some debts. He was caught by police from Phase-1 area and later arrested, along with Pandey. Khan had by then spent ₹1 lakh from the loot, and police managed to retrieve ₹7 lakh from his possession,” said the officer.