A maid, who allegedly stole ornaments from her master’s home to help her lover financially, was arrested by Subramanyanagar police recently. Kavitha, 23, from Kammanahalli, and her boyfriend Manjunath, 27, are the suspects. Police said they had recovered jewellery worth Rs 14 lakh from them.

Kavitha, a native of Chandapura in Mudigere taluk of Chikmagalur district, started working at the house of Jayalakshmi at Rajajinagar, A’ Block, five years ago as a maid. She was also given an independent room atop the house, said the police.

Kavitha happened to meet Manjunath who runs a grocer’s in the same locality, fell in love with him and the couple decided to marry. She would frequently bring Manjunath to the house. Jayalakshmi objected to Manjunath’s visits but Kavitha told her she would marry him, added the police.

She allegedly stole the valuables, pledged them with a pawnbroker and gave the money to Manjunath who bought eight Xerox machines. Thereafter, she quit the job at Jayalakshmi’s home and moved to a paying guest accommodation, added the police.

Recently, while cleaning Kavitha’s room, Jayalakshmi came across a piece of paper which contained transaction about pledging of the ornaments. She grew suspicious, searched for the ornaments and found them missing.

Suspecting Kavitha’s involvement, she asked Manjunath about the theft and requested him to ask her to return the jewellery.

But Manjunath threatened to abduct her grandson and murder him if she approached the police. But the family made a complaint to the police who registered a case, and traced the duo.