New Year's outing proves costly for Bengaluru bizman; jewellery, watches worth Rs 1.37 cr stolen

Bengaluru: A New Year's outing proved costly for a city-based businessman after gold jewellery and luxury watches worth Rs 1.37 crore were allegedly stolen from his house in Sadashivanagar while the family was away celebrating.

A senior police officer said the complainant, who is in the hotel business, alleged that he locked his house and left with his family early on December 30 to go to Coimbatore to celebrate New Year. The house keys were reportedly left with a woman who had earlier worked as a domestic help and had recently rejoined duty.

Before leaving the city, he dropped the woman, identified as Hajeera Begam, at his in-laws' house and asked her to hand over the key to them.

After some time, he called his in-laws to confirm about the key. He was informed that Hajeera had not handed over the key. He then tried to reach her over phone, but it remained switched off. He also called her husband Shaheer, who did not respond.

Suspecting something was wrong, he asked his relative to check the house using a spare key. The theft then came to light, and he filed a case with the Sadashivanagar police.

Police conducted a spot mahazar and found cupboards and drawers broken open. Verification revealed that 979 grams of gold jewellery worth Rs 1.27 crore and seven high-end wristwatches worth Rs 10 lakh were missing. CCTV footage showed the accused couple entering the house using the keys and leaving with the valuables packed in bags.

A police officer said Hajeera had been working at the house since 2022, quit in 2024, and rejoined three days before the theft. A case has been registered, and efforts are on to trace the accused couple.