Help burgles Gurdev Nagar house, flees with cash, gold

Ludhiana: The police on Monday booked a domestic help after she, along with her three accomplices, escaped with Rs 7 lakh and gold jewellery from the house of her employer in Gurdev Nagar.
Rajeev Arora, a businessman, said in his police complaint, “We live in a joint family and have four domestic helps, Monika, Vijay, Gopal and Kalpana. Kalpana and Monika live on the first floor of our house. On Friday, I along with my wife and two children left for Delhi to attend a marriage function. My brother and his wife were at home.”

When Rajeev returned home early on Monday, he found his room locks broken. “The room was ransacked and Rs 7 lakh and gold jewellery were missing from the almirah. We immediately called Monika, but she said she knew nothing about it. As Kalpana was nowhere, we asked Monika about her. Monika said she had not seen her since Sunday and that she suspected Kalpana stole her cellphone before escaping,” he added.

Division 5 police station assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Pardeep Singh said, “The family had hired 45-year-old Kalpana in December last year through their cook Gopal. Kalpana had asked Gopal, who has been working with the family for long, to help her get a job. Both of them hail from Nepal. The family had not got Kalpana’s police verification conducted.”

The CCTV cameras installed in the locality have captured Kalpana and her three accomplices.

“A camera has captured the three suspects near Rajeev’s house at 1.56am and 2.15am on Saturday. The next day, at 4.08am, the trio is seen with Kalpana, who is carrying a bag while leaving the house,” the ASI added.

The police are questioning Gopal to know the whereabouts of Kalpana and her Nepal address. “We are also trying to trace her son who works in Mumbai,” the ASI said.

A case has been registered under Section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master) of the IPC against Kalpana.

Police verification a must

As per orders issued by the commissioner of police under Section 144 of the CrPC, police verification of servants and tenants is mandatory. Those violating the order can be booked under Section 188 of the IPC.

Under Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), the offender landlord or employer face one-month imprisonment that may extend up to six months and a fine of Rs 200 that may extend up to Rs 1,000.

Recent case

On April 5, the police had booked a domestic help for committing a theft at the Tagore Nagar house of his employer, Navneet Gupta. The family had gone to Dubai when Krishan, a native of Nepal, served sedative-laced food to his co-worker Raju. Thereafter, he along with his unidentified accomplices burgled the house and escaped in Navneet’s car.