05 September,2011 06:40 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
33-year-old Charkop resident, well-educated but frustrated with being out of work, arrested for stealing spare key to air hostess friend's house to wipe it clean of cash andu00a0gold jewellery
A 33-year unemployed educated woman was arrested last night for plundering her friend's apartment, and robbing valuables worth Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50,000 in cash.
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The accused, Rupali Pagade, was arrested by the Vanrai police from Charkop last night.
Unable to find a job and desperate for money, Rupali Pagade
broke into her friend's house and robbed her of her valuables
According to the police, Rupali was friends with Monali Apkar (32), an airhostess, for the past five years. She used to visit Monali's place in Goregoan (East) regularly, where the latter stays with her husband.
Despite being highly qualified, Rupali was unable to find a suitable job, cops said. Aggravated, she thought of chalking out a plan to loot her friend's place, thinking that nobody would doubt her.
Knowing that Monali kept two house keys in her purse, she managed steal one on one of her visits so she could use it at the opportune time.
On September 2, Monali had plans to visit her mother's place, also in Goregaon, while her husband was to go somewhere.
Shrewdly aware of the couple's plans, Rupali used the opportunity to enter the house using the key she had stolen, cops said. She made away with Rs 50,000 in cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh approximately.
Meanwhile, Monica's husband called her to ask her to be home. Upon reaching the house, she was shocked to see it ransacked.
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A while later, she discovered that her cash and gold ornaments, all together amounting to some Rs 5.1 lakh, were missing.
She and her husband lodged a complaint with the Vanrai police station, Goregoan (East).
During investigations, the police questioned the watchman of Monali's apartment, who confirmed seeing Rupali on the premises on the day the robbery happened.
According to the police, Monali was unaware of Rupali's address. When she tried to call her, Rupali did not answer. Cops then had to trace her phone to locate her in Charkop. Rupali was arrested yesterday.
Police recovered Rs 4 lakh from her. She confessed to having splurged the remaining amount.
Senior Police Inspector Suresh Shinde of Vanrai station said, "On receiving the complaint, we carried out the preliminary investigations. We learnt that Rupali was seen at Monali's place on the day of the robbery.
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We then traced her mobile phone and arrested her at Charkop." He added, "She was caught with Rs 4 lakh. According to her confession, she spent the rest. Investigation is still on."
