Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Architect steals cash, jewellery to teach wife, mum-in-law a lesson
NERUL: A 33- year- old man was arrested by Nerul police on Tuesday for allegedly stealing cash and jewellery worth Rs46 lakh from his wife and motherin-law to teach them a lesson.
The architect, who was arrested within five hours of the complaint, had made the incident look like a house breaking theft, said the police on Wednesday. The cash and jewellery has been recovered.
Sheetal Sheth, 31, a resident of Sandeep Apartments in Sector 30, Nerul, on Tuesday lodged a complaint.
Sheetal, a homemaker, lived with her husband Amey and six-month-old son. Her mother Hansa Parmar, 52, had been staying with them for the past two months. Hansa had sold a flat in Mulund on March 22. Of the sale proceeds, she had given 50% of the amount to her son and kept Rs43 lakh as her share. She had given the money to Sheetal for safekeeping.
In her complaint Sheetal told the police that on Sunday, she had gone to Mulund with her mother to see a new house they were interested in purchasing. They had taken along Rs1 lakh to pay as booking amount. The rest of the Rs42 lakh were kept in a bag in a cupboard.
She said when they returned, there was a new lock on the main door. “Sheetal could not get in touch with Amey. When she broke the lock and entered the house, she found her jewellery worth Rs4,67,000 missing. The Rs42 lakh that was in the cupboard too had been taken away,” said deputy commissioner of police (zone I) Shahji Umap.
He said, “When she told Amey about the incident, he shirked any responsibility and said since it was their money, they should do what they wanted.”
Sheetal lodged a complaint with t he Ner ul police on Tuesday. “Nerul police, led by senior inspector Sangeeta Alphonso, detained Amey. He aroused suspicion because the house locks had not been broken, there was a new lock on the door and he was out of reach during the time. He had switched off his phone a day earlier when he had gone to his office,” said Umap.
“Following sustained interrogation, Amey confessed to stealing the jewellery and cash. He was then arrested,” said Umap.
Police sources said Amey may have put new locks on the door to ensure no one entered the house after he had broken into it. He did not want the old locks to be there as he had not broken them but used his key to unlock it.