Duo loot Rs 47 lakh from developer's home in Pune's Kalyaninagar, held

PUNE: The Yerawada police on Thursday arrested a couple - a domestic helper and her husband - for stealing ornaments and cash collectively valued at Rs47.36 lakh from the bungalow of a developer. The crime took place in a gated housing society in Kalyaninagar between December 26 and 27.

Developer Suraj Agarwal (31) and his family had gone to Alibaug on December 26. When they returned, the washroom grille and wooden cupboard locks were broken; gold, silver and diamond-studded ornaments and some cash had been stolen.

Assistant inspector Ravindra Alekar said, "We traced the call detail locations of suspects Urmila Harge (38) and her husband Rajpal Harge (39) to Nagpur. The duo was taken into custody after they alighted from a private luxury bus. We recovered Rs2.58 lakh in cash and ornaments worth Rs24 lakh from them."

Alekar added, "The Harges resided in the quarters at Kumar City Society behind the spot of the burglary. Their whereabouts were not known since the theft. Technical investigations established their location. Harge used a hammer to break the plaster cement base of the washroom window grilleand gained access into the bungalow before 7am on December 27."

The couple was produced in a magisterial court, which ordered their custodial remand till January 3.

The developer's brother Vishal Agarwal said, "As of some four months ago, he worked as a security guard at our office and construction site, while his wife worked as a domestic help."