Nagpur: Already settled with a family-owned grocery shop, a mother-daughter duo turned part time thieves to fulfil their dreams of a lavish life, expensive clothes and cosmetics.
The duo used to target wedding celebrations at lavish hotels to steal valuables. They were arrested on Wednesday, for allegedly stealing gold valuables worth Rs8.48 lakh from the wedding ceremony of a cousin of Saurabh Agrawal at a well-known hotel in Kalamna on April 29. The stolen valuables have been recovered.
Crime branch sleuths nabbed the duo from their residence at Pardi. They were identified after scrutinizing CCTV footage at the hotel for more than four hours. A police informer tipped off cops about the duo after the clips were released.
The accused, Sunita Mehendrakar and her daughter Pooja Chauhan, a nurse, had been seen on CCTV cameras in the marriage hall, not talking to anyone else, and even stealing the purse. Cops went to their shop and searched their house. Cops said the women had kept the jewellery inside a cupboard, hidden inside clothes. Cops also noticed several new clothes and cosmetics, apparently used by the duo while attending marriages.
Crime branch sleuths cracked the case within 24 hours of Kalamna police station registering offences. It is learnt that the duo has been arrested earlier for theft, and has some cases registered against them.
Pooja had separated from her husband a few years back, and was living with her mother and father.