Network of house burglars busted, couple arrested

New Delhi: Delhi police claimed to have busted a network of house burglars on Wednesday with the arrest of a husband-wife duo who entered houses as maids and then disappeared with valuables.

Police has recovered stolen properties, including diamond jewellery and electronic items, worth over Rs 80 lakh from them.  

The couple, Vijay (43) and Manisha Singh (35), told police that since 2005, they had started and closed various placement agencies, beginning with Kalka Maid Services’ at Kilokari Ashram.

“Manisha, who posed as the maid, would flee with expensive jewellery and cash from the houses of her employers. After every planned heist, the couple returned to their native place in Odisha to lie low for some time,” said a senior police officer.

It is also suspected that the couple recruited thieves who would pose as maid servants and then decamp with valuables. The couple scouted for local chowkidars, guards, washermen, car-washers in affluent loc-alities and gained knowledge about prospective employers from them, said DCP (South) Ishwar Singh.

Following this modus operandi, they allegedly committed a theft in Northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar area in August 2016. The couple also allegedly told police that they had committed similar thefts in Faridabad.

On March 19, Nishu Trip-athi, a resident of Vasant Kunj, filed a police compla-int alleging that jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh had been stolen from her residence.

“The burglary had taken place while Ms Tripathi and her husband were out. They had hired a maid na-med Manisha, a day prior to the incident, and she was missing,” said Mr Singh.

Manisha had offered her services as a domestic maid after getting to know that the complainant’s husband was a diamond trader. A day after being employed, she decamped with the valuables.

The investigators analysed the cell phone number of the missing maid and found it switched off. An anlaysis of the call detail records showed that Manisha used to visit a particular area and a maid.

The maid said she knew Manisha, but did not know her real name. It was learnt that Manisha had come to Delhi a couple of months ago.

A search of placement agencies revealed that over the past few months, many such agencies had opened and shut after being functional for a short period.

A search of these agencies revealed that most of them were being run by the same persons. The accused were produced in Patiala House courts and have been sent to 14 days’ judicial custody.