Mumbai Crime: House help booked for stealing jewellery worth Rs 47 lakh

The complainant said the thefts took place over a year. Representation pic

The Cuffe Parade police have booked a house help for allegedly stealing jewellery worth more than Rs 47 lakh from a jeweller. According to police, the house help worked at the jeweller's residence for 8 years.

The complainant Dipankar Mogha, 50, who runs Arihant Jewellery shop at BKC alleged that one of his domestic helps, in the span of a year (from June 2021 to April 2022), stole jewellery worth Rs 47,50,000. Following his complaint, the police registered an FIR against Deepak Chaudhary, 30.

As per the FIR, the complainant claimed that in June last year, his wife found her diamond set missing from her wardrobe. However, he did not approach the police at that time. "On March 19, my wife found more jewellery sets missing from the cupboard, but as we were preparing to attend a family wedding in Nepal, we thought we would come back and check again," the complainant said in his statement.

After returning from Nepal, the family confronted both the house helps and threatened them with police action if the jewellery was not returned. Chaudhary then left the house on April 15 without informing anyone. "We have reason to believe that he has stolen the jewellery," the complainant told cops.

The police have launched a manhunt for Chaudhary, who is a resident of Bihar. As per the FIR, six different diamond sets have been stolen from June 2021 to April 2022 which include a ruby necklace worth Rs 15 lakh and an emerald necklace worth Rs 10 lakh among others. Senior inspector Sandesh Revale of Cuffe Parade police station refused to divulge details on the probe. The complainant also refused to comment.