Noida businessman’s priest, gardener steal ₹12 lakh from his house, arrested

According to the police, the theft took place in the early hours of February 15 after which an FIR was lodged in the case at Sector 20 police station

A priest and a gardener working for a city-based businessman were arrested on Thursday for stealing ₹12 lakh from his house in Sector 30, officials said.

The two arrested accused in Noida on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT PHOTO)

According to the police, the theft took place in the early hours of February 15 after which an FIR was lodged in the case at Sector 20 police station.

The complainant, Bhawan Swami, had alleged that five miscreants had barged into his home in the early hours of February 15 and decamped with a locker containing cash worth ₹12.33 lakh, deputy commissioner of police (Noida), Harish Chander, said.

Police said that only the priest and the gardener were present at the house when the theft took place as Swami and his family were away for work since February 7.

“During interrogation, his gardener Sugreev Chandra and priest Manish Awasthi claimed that they were taken hostage and thrashed by the burglers,” said the DCP.

The priest had called Swami to inform about the incident, while the CCTV footage was missing, police said.

“During investigation, several details did not match up, following which the two employees were questioned by the police. It was found that the Awasthi had been working with the family for the last five years while the Chandra had been working for them for last one year. The priest used to take care of the house when the family was away,” Chander said.

Assistant commissioner of police, Noida, Rajneesh Verma said that the two later confessed to the crime.

“They revealed that on the intervening of February 14 and 15, they planned to remove the cash from the safe which was kept in one of the bedrooms of the house. They had taken the safe to the businessman’s terrace and broken it using an axe. After taking out the cash, they buried it in a pit at a vacant plot near the house,” Verma said.

Police said the stolen money was recovered.

“The DVR of the CCTVs were recovered from a sewer drain nearby while the axe and hammer used to break open the locker was recovered from the terrace of Swami’s house,” he added.

In March 2021, there was an incident of theft at the businessman’s house in which one of his servants was involved.