House help who stole ₹13 lakh from Greater Noida high-rise arrested

Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Assotech Springfields in Zeta-1, Greater Noida, registered the complaint in this case on Monday

A 22-year-old house help was arrested in Kushinagar on Tuesday after stealing cash and jewellery worth ₹13 lakh from a high-rise residence in Greater Noida on Saturday.

The woman, who gave her name as Geeta to her employers, was identified as Kajal by the police. (HT Photo)

Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Assotech Springfields in Zeta-1, Greater Noida, registered the complaint in this case on Monday.

“On Monday morning, Kumar informed us that his house-help Geeta has made off with gold jewellery and cash worth more than ₹10 lakh from his residence,” said Avdhesh Pratap, station house officer of Surajpur Police Station.

“The suspect has been identified as Kajal (22). She started working at the complainant’s residence in February this year. The complainant had taken a photocopy of her Aadhaar card but had not had her identity verified by the police,” said Rajiv Dixit, additional deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida).

After working for a month at Kumar’s home, the suspect gained the family’s trust, at which point, according to the investigating officers, her employers began to leave valuables unlocked in her presence.

“On Saturday, the house help took advantage of an unlocked almirah to steal jewelry and cash. She stole ₹50,000 in cash, of which she spent ₹4,000 on a trip to her hometown and a reservation at a guesthouse,” according to Dixit.

Following Kumar’s complaint, the police registered a first information report under Section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master or employer) of the Indian Penal Code.

“On Tuesday, we found the suspect living in a guest house six kilometres away from her residence in Kushinagar,” said Rajiv Dixit, additional deputy commissioner of police (Central Noida).

Investigators recovered ₹45,421 and gold jewellery valued at ₹13 lakh from her possession. The police brought the suspect to Gautam Budh Nagar on Wednesday, where a court sent her to judicial custody. According to investigators, Kumar had said in his complaint that the stolen jewellery amounted to ₹10 lakh. However, officers recovered jewellery worth ₹13 lakh from the suspect’s possession.

Officers associated with the case said they recovered all the stolen items within 28 hours of Kumar’s complainant.

“The suspect has no criminal history. However, we are trying to find out if she committed thefts at other places where she worked,” said Dixit.