Photo on Facebook wearing stolen jewellery lands Jharkhand couple in jail

Police arrested the couple, Rekha Verma and Sunil Verma after a complaint was filed by a woman who identified the jewelley worn by Rekha Verma as her stolen jewellery.

Posting a photo of themselves laden with jewellery landed a couple in jail in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. Police on Sunday arrested the couple, Rekha Verma and Sunil Verma, and sent them to jail after a complaint was filed by a woman who identified the jewelley worn by Rekha Verma as her stolen jewellery worth ₹5 lakh, police said on Monday.

The complainant saw photos of Rekha and Sunil on Facebook and felt the jewellery worn by Rekha was actually her stolen jewellery after which she filed a police complaint. (REUTERS)

“On June 5, a puja was held in the house of Aarti Devi near NKS Ground in Balrampur under Gamharia police station. At about 10 pm, Rekha Verma and Sunil Verma– who lived on the ground floor of the same building on rent – had also come to Aarti Devi’s apartment. After the puja, Aarti Devi had gone to bathroom keeping her jewellery in a bag. Next morning Rekha again came to Aarti Devi’s apartment and Aarti Devi asked her to come later as she was taking shower. But when she came out of bathroom, she found her jewellery gone,” Avinash Kumar, Seraikela sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), told the media.

The SDPO said Aarti Devi even went to Rekha’s house enquiring about the jewellery but she denied having any knowledge and threatened to file a case against her. “Rekha and Sunil then left the building and shifted to another house. Few days ago, Aarti Devi saw photos of Rekha and Sunil on Facebook and felt the jewellery worn by Rekha was actually her stolen jewellery after which she filed a complaint with us,” said Kumar.

A police team led by sub-inspector Sriman Narayan Mishra and comprising Nagendra Singh, Ajay Kumar Rai and Mahesh Oraon raided Rekha and Sunil’s house on Sunday and recovered the stolen jewellery, including 90gm gold worth ₹3 lakh.

Police said the couple had prepared duplicate jewellery exactly resembling the stolen jewellery but when police pressurised them, they handed over the original stolen jewellery.