Bengaluru theft leads to US Embassy complaint; domestic worker held with valuables worth Rs 1 crore

Bengaluru: A theft reported from Bengaluru led to a complaint being routed through the US Embassy, following which the Karnataka police arrested a domestic employee and recovered gold jewellery, diamonds and cash worth around Rs 1 crore.

The incident occurred on January 21 within the limits of the Jeevan Bima Nagar police station and involved a US-based couple working as software professionals in Bengaluru.

The couple, identified as Meryl Moreno and her husband Tommo Kankanian, natives of Texas, were living in a rented house in the city. While Kankanian had travelled to the United States, Meryl continued to work in Bengaluru.

Police said the theft came to light when Meryl returned home from work and found valuables missing. She informed her husband, who was overseas at the time.

As Kankanian was in the US, the matter was taken up through the US Embassy, which forwarded a complaint directly to the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DGP&IGP), Karnataka.

Based on the complaint, police arrested Chandan Raul, 35, a native of West Bengal, who had been employed as a domestic help at their house for about a year. He allegedly decamped with diamond and gold jewellery along with $600 in cash.

During investigation, police found that Raul was attempting to convert the US dollars into Indian currency and flee to his native place. The stolen jewellery, diamonds and cash were recovered following his arrest.