40-year-old woman held on charge of stealing jewellery worth 19 lakh from neighbour’s Kothrud flat

Pune: The Kothrud police on Thursday arrested a 40-year-old woman on the charge of stealing gold jewellery worth Rs19 lakh in total from her neighbour's house over two instances in five months. The woman stole the jewellery from the flat between Oct last year and Feb 4 this year, police said. A 37-year-old woman lodged a complaint with the police in this regard.
An officer from the Kothrud police said that the complainant and her husband run an investment consultancy firm. Her in-laws stay in another flat in the same building. "On Oct 22, 2025, the victim lodged a complaint with the police, stating that unknown thieves had stolen her and her mother-in-law's gold jewellery worth Rs8 lakh kept in her flat," the officer said. The police registered a case at that time. They also questioned the domestic helps working at the complainant's and her in-laws' flats, but with no result. "On Feb 4 this year, the woman found that some of her gold jewellery was missing again, this time worth Rs11 lakh, from cupboards in their flat. On Wednesday this week, she approached the police and lodged a complaint," said the officer. He said that the police checked CCTV footage in the building and questioned the domestic helps again. "Meanwhile, the woman's 10-year-old son told us that their neighbour came to their flat on Feb 4 to get a mobile phone charger. He also told us that the ‘aunty' went into his mother's bedroom," the officer said. He said that the police then checked the CCTV footage closely and confirmed that the woman went to the complainant's flat. "We then took the woman into custody. During sustained questioning, she admitted to stealing jewellery twice from her neighbour's flat," the police officer said. The woman also revealed that she sold off the jewellery and used the money to pay her debts. "Our investigations are on," the officer said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and quotes !