The Police claimed on Saturday to have cracked a case of theft that took place at actress Kareena Kapoor's suburban Khar residence with the arrest of her three domestic helps, who have confessed to the crime.
A pearl set and a ring collectively worth Rs 41,000 and Rs 1.53 lakh in cash were recovered from them, police said. The incident occurred on October 8 at Kapoor's residence and police said that the trio had stolen cash and other belongings valued at Rs 2.50 lakh from the actor's house.
The three accused identified as 24-year-old Pawansingh Chouhan, 35-year-old Anita Osami and 26-year-old Tina Yadav were arrested on October 15, after they admitted to have committed the crime after being questioned, Additional Police Commissioner Amitabh Gupta told PTI.
The trio was remanded to police custody till Monday. According to police, on October 8, Kareena's secretary Zahid Akram Khan had kept Rs 2.14 lakh in cash at Babita's (Kareena's actor mother) room when she was not there and informed her about it.
"When Babita returned home, she could not find the cash, following which she spoke to Khan in this regard," N Sonavane, officer of Khar police station said. "They searched the entire house and also asked their 10 servants. During the search, she also came to know a pearl set and a ring were also missing along with cash," investigating
officer Sonavane said.
Babita then waited for her daughter Kareena, who was shooting abroad, to arrive in Mumbai before complaining to police, Sonavane said. "After their attempt to find the money and valuables failed, they informed us," he said.
The police suspected the involvement of an insider and during questioning of the servants, they found the accused Anita had frequently changed her statements. Her body language was also such that it prompted us to suspect her involvement in the crime, the officer said.
"The behaviour of other two accused Tina and Pawansingh was also found suspicious following which all three were detained and questioned," he said adding that the trio admitted to the crime and were arrested on October 15.
"An FIR has been lodged by Kareena's secretary Zahid Akram Khan. The probe into the case was initiated before the formal complaint was registered as the Kapoor family had already informed us about it," he said. Elaborating on the case, Sonavane said that Pawansingh and Anita had gone to see Kapoor's newly purchased mobile phone in Babita's room when they came across Rs 2.14 lakh in cash that was kept there.
"They were later joined by Tina (in the theft). Subsequently, the three distributed the money among themselves," he said adding that further investigations were on.