New Delhi:
A blueline bus driver earned the love and affection of the family of a senior NTPC engineer after he helped his wife ten years ago but he betrayed the trust when he allegedly stole diamonds and silver worth Rs 20 lakh from them.
The arrested has been identified as Jitender Kumar, a "family friend" of senior electrical engineer, NTPC, Deepak Kumar Dahiya from whose Badarpur house he had allegedly stolen the articles a week ago.
Dahiya and his wife Nirmala had gone to Rohini to the site of their under-construction house when Kumar allegedly entered the house and committed the theft, O P Mishra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East), said.
"The story of their friendship started ten years ago when Kumar was a driver of a bus in which Dahiya's wife used to commute to her office. On more than one occasion, when she fainted due to illness, he helped her and even took her to hospital.
"The family and Kumar developed intimacy and Kumar became a family friend so much so that Dahiya even stood surety for Kumar in a case of a fatal accident," Mishra said.
During interrogation, Mishra said, Kumar told police that he was lured by the wealth of the family and wanted to become rich overnight.
"Finding a suitable opportunity around a month back, he stole the keys of main doors of the house from their car and committed the theft. He knew that the family was away and replaced all the keys in their original positions," Mishra said. He allegedly stole diamonds, silver and a laptop.
Asked how they zeroed in on Kumar, the official said that the inspection of crime scene showed that someone known to the family could have committed the theft.
"It appeared that the thief had a thorough knowledge of house, location of the keys and household articles including jewellery. The entry into the house was friendly," Mishra said adding they zeroed in on Kumar, who confessed to the theft.