He would then give the jewellery to his two crime partners, police said (Representational)
The Lucknow police have arrested a house help for giving sleeping pills to an elderly woman in place of prescribed drugs and stealing jewellery and cash from the house on Sunday, the police said.
"The young house help was employed at the house two years back. He was stealing the jewellery and cash from the house with the help of his father and a distant relative who used to supply him with Diazepam, a sleeping pill to carry out the theft. He used to take her valuables and small quantities of cash once she fell asleep. In the period of a few months, he took away jewellery worth more than Rs 15.5 lakh and cash above Rs 1 lakh," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Durgesh Kumar.
The police on Sunday arrested the house help Mohd. Suhail, 19, his father Mohd Sharif, 40, and his relative Shakil, 30, and recovered jewellery worth Rs 15.5 lakh and Rs 50,000 in cash.
The matter came to the fore after the elderly woman's son and the complainant Saif Samadi, an 'attar' businessman living under the Saadatganj police area, sensed the strategic theft and then informed the police about the matter.
"An FIR was registered on April 25 under IPC Sections 328 (administer poison), 380 (theft in the building) and 120b (part of criminal conspiracy) and a team was formed to arrest the accused who were at large," the DCP added.
After the arrest, IPC Sections 411 (theft), 413 (dealing with stolen property), and 414 (disposing of stolen items) have been added to the FIR.
According to the police, Suhail who was hired to take care of the elderly woman's medicines and health used to give her Diazepam and after she fell asleep, he used to steal the jewellery and cash in small amounts to escape being caught. He would then give the jewellery to his two crime partners, Mohd. Sharif and Shakil.
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