A 30-year-old woman, allegedly wanted in more than 25 cases of theft in multiple states for over a decade, was arrested by Ghaziabad police on Wednesday evening.
Poonam Shah alias Kajal alias Preeti was residing at Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar, Delhi, police said, adding that two of her associates are absconding.
According to Gyanendra Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police (City-2), Poonam had been involved in such activities as far back as 2011.
“On July 28, an incident of theft was reported from ATS Advantage society situated in Indirapuram police station area. Poonam and her associate were working in a flat at the society. On the day, while Poonam kept the complainant’s wife engaged in a conversation, her associate stole jewellery from one of the almirahs and they both fled shortly thereafter. The accused left for Delhi, divided the jewellery amongst themselves and sold a portion of it to a man working for a jeweller in Kolkata. When the complainant checked their house after the accused had left, they found that one of the almirahs was open and the jewellery was missing. The complainant, Vipul Goyal, registered an FIR against the accused at Indirapuram police station,” Singh said on Wednesday.
“A team had been deployed to trace the women, and today a team from Indirapuram police station arrested one of the two women from Pathar road, near Amrapali village society gate and recovered jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh from her. Two of her associates are absconding. Police teams have been deployed to catch them. Poonam and her associate used to work in four-five societies in the vicinity as domestic help. Preliminary investigation shows that the accused had been doing this for over 8-10 years… In 2017, a similar case of theft was registered against Poonam in Indirapuram area,” Singh added.
According to Ghaziabad police, there are around 26 cases of theft registered against her in various states including Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Ghaziabad with some registered as far back as 2011-2012.
An FIR under IPC sections 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) has been registered against the accused, and a search for the absconding accused is underway, police said.
