Adomestic caretaker allegedly stole gold bangles worth nearly ₹6 lakh from an elderly woman and replaced them with fake ones while caring for her at a residence in Pune’s Viman Nagar.
The Airport Police have arrested the accused after questioning four caretakers employed at the house.
The complaint was lodged by Ajay Rajkumar Kanotra (59), a resident of Konark Campus in Viman Nagar.
According to the police, Kanotra lives with his elderly mother and had employed four women to look after her. One of the caretakers, identified as Anita Sutar, stayed at the house full-time to provide round-the-clock care.
On May 21, Anita informed Kanotra that one of the four gold bangles on his mother’s left hand was missing. The family searched the house but could not find it. Suspecting nothing at the time, Kanotra photographed the remaining three gold bangles on his mother’s hand before leaving for Guwahati on work.
After returning to Pune on June 7, Anita sought leave on June 10, saying she had to travel to Solapur for a religious function.
A few days later, on June 15, while sitting beside his mother, Kanotra noticed that the bangles on her hand looked different. Comparing them with the photographs stored on his mobile phone, he realised that the original gold bangles had been replaced with fake ones. He then approached the Airport Police and reported the theft of gold bangles worth ₹5.95 lakh.
During the investigation, police questioned all four caretakers. Based on sustained interrogation, Police Sub-Inspector Nitin Rathod grew suspicious of Anita. She was taken into custody and eventually confessed to the crime.
Police said Anita had initially stolen one gold bangle and later got imitation bangles made to match the original design. She subsequently replaced all the genuine bangles with fake ones without the elderly woman noticing and sold the stolen jewellery to a jeweller in Solapur.
Police have recovered stolen property worth around ₹7 lakh, including the gold bangles, silver glasses, a silver oil lamp and other valuables from the house.