Woman 'steals jewellery from relative to open salon'

A woman was so desperate to open her own beauty salon that she stole Rs 5 lakh worth of gold jewellery from a relative’s house when the family was out of town in May, the Bommanahalli police have said.

Roopa Devi, an accountant with a private firm, and her assistant, Puneeth Punyakoti, wanted to open the salon but didn’t have money. Devi happened to visit a relative and found that she had kept a lot of jewellery in a locker in her house. Devi then hatched a plot to steal the jewellery, the police said.

A golden opportunity

Devi first got the duplicate keys of the relative’s house and waited for the opportunity when the family would go out of town. In May, Devi learnt that the family was not in town. She sensed a golden opportunity and took Punyakoti along. They went to the house and stole Rs 5 lakh worth of jewellery.

The family found out about the theft after returning home and filed a police complaint. Investigators were certain that the theft was an inside job. They also learnt that Devi had been regularly visiting the family to get updates on the case. They picked her up for questioning and she confessed later. Punyakoti was also arrested. Police have recovered all the stolen jewellery.