House help held for theft at actor Moushumi Chatterjee’s flat

MUMBAI: A house help was arrested for stealing a gold ornament from the suburban residence of veteran Bollywood actor Moushumi Chatterjee recently. The maid, identified only as Sunita, was on her way to sell the stolen gold bangle when a police team nabbed her. The case was solved within 24 hours of being registered, police officials said.

Chatterjee, 70, made her mark in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. She is known for her work in Hindi films such as ‘Anuraag’, ‘Benaam’ and ‘Angoor’. She lives in an apartment in Khar West.



Police said Chatterjee had gone out of Mumbai for work last week. When she returned, she couldn’t find a gold bangle worth approximately Rs 1 lakh which had great sentimental value for her. The house was accessed by four house helps-- three of them female-- in her absence. Chatterjee registered an FIR at the Khar police station last Thursday.

The police started making inquiries with all the helps. They found one of the maids, Sunita, had not reported to work on Thursday. She would usually come in around 8am and leave by 6pm. The police sent a constable to Sunita’s house at Santa Cruz West but she wasn’t home. Police then inquired with local residents. They learnt Sunita had gone to a jeweller. She was nabbed before she could sell the stolen bangle.

Officials said Sunita has been in Chatterjee’s employment since a decade and the actor trusted her. Sunita is said to have told the police she never imagined the theft would be detected as she had only picked up one ornament. Sunita was booked under section 381 of IPC (theft by clerk/servant of property in possession of the master).