Mumbai: A 49-year-old woman from Gujarat has been arrested for allegedly stealing jewellery worth Rs 6.3 lakh from a shop at the Oberoi Hotel in Nariman Point after posing as a customer and trying on several ornaments. After she left, the jeweller checked and found one pair of earrings worth Rs 2 lakh missing and on careful observation of the CCTV footage she was caught.
The police arrested Priti Dasani, a resident of Porbandar district, Gujarat. Dasani was remanded in police custody.
According to the police, the complainant, a 31-year-old employee of Vipul Arts Shop at Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point, was attending to customers at the jewellery outlet on September 2. “Around 1 pm, the well-dressed Dasani entered the shop claiming that she wanted to purchase jewellery. She reportedly tried several gold ornaments, including rings, earrings, bracelets and bangles, for a considerable period before leaving without making a purchase,’’ said an official.
After she left, the employee of the shop counted the jewellery and noticed that a pair of gold earrings, a ring and a single earring were missing.
The shop employee informed the owner and checked footage recorded on his mobile phone. The footage showed the woman secretly placing jewellery in her trouser pocket while examining the ornaments. Based on the CCTV footage, the police registered an offence and started looking for her.
During the investigation, police received information that the suspect was staying at a hotel in Kandivli (West). A team went to the hotel and found Dasani and arrested her. Police said the search of her belongings allegedly led to the recovery of a diamond-studded yellow-metal earring and Rs 2 lakh in cash, with the total seized property valued at around Rs 4 lakh. Police said the woman allegedly told investigators that she had sold some of the stolen jewellery at a shop in Zaveri Bazaar but gave vague details.
