Mumbai: Goregaon woman held for faking burglary after pawning husband’s gold

The Dindoshi police arrested a woman on September 8 for allegedly selling her husbandrsquos jewellery and valuables to send money to a social media friend before filing a false burglary complaint Officers said she pawned the ornaments and transferred the money to an online friend The valuables have since been recoveredCase detailsA 53yearold Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC employee from Goregaon approached the Dindoshi police after jewellery and valuables worth Rs 33 lakh went missing from his house In his statement he said that on August 23 he discussed painting their home for Ganeshotsav with his wife and called a painter That night he kept gold ornaments and other valuables in a steel boxOn August 25 at around 1 am he his wife and their children slept upstairs while he locked the main door The next morning around 1020 am he noticed the door was open On checking the steel box he found the lid broken and jewellery missing After searching the house and asking neighbours he could not find the ornaments and lodged a complaint at Dindoshi police station Police registered an FIR under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS The probe was led by PSI Ajeet Desai and his team under ACP Dattatre Dhole and senior inspector Mahendra ShindeldquoWe checked CCTV footage from nearby areas but found no suspect On inspecting the complainantrsquos house we grew suspicious and asked him to check with family and acquaintances but he insisted on filing an FIRrdquo said a Dindoshi police officer Investigators later analysed the familyrsquos mobile numbers and found a common contact with whom the complainantrsquos wife and daughter often spoke When called the 20yearold man said the complainantrsquos wife once gave him jewellery to keep later took it back and then asked him again to hold more ornaments which he refusedPolice then examined her phone and bank account which showed frequent contact with many numbers and several deposits and transfers When questioned she confessed According to police she admitted stealing jewellery from the house selling it and sending the money to a social media friend The man had convinced her he had sent her a parcel of jewellery supposedly seized by Customs at Delhi airport He told her to deposit money to release it Believing him she sold her husbandrsquos ornaments and transferred nearly Rs 33 lakhTo cover up she broke the door latch and forced open the steel box to stage a burglary Police also noted that in 2018 a theft case was registered at the same house but it remains unsolved During questioning the woman mocked the police saying ldquoYou couldnrsquot solve the 2018 case how will you solve this onerdquo and even challenged them However after her arrest and the recovery of the jewellery she appeared ldquodeeply embarrassedrdquo an officer said She was produced before the Borivli Metropolitan Magistratersquos Court on September 8 and sent to judicial custody