BENGALURU: A couple was arrested by RR Nagar police for stealing gold and cash worth about Rs 85 lakh kept in their house by the complainant, who was their close friend. The complainant, a 66-year-old woman with severe visual impairment, was staying at the accused couple’s house and had kept the cash and gold inside a cupboard in a room and retained the key.
Police have managed to recover about 232gm of gold ornaments. The couple has been remanded in judicial custody.
The complainant, Padmaja Rao, is a resident of Banashankari 6th Stage. The accused are Sharmila Seshadri (50) and her husband R Ganesh Kumar (52), residents of BEML Layout 5th Stage in RR Nagar. Sharmila is an MBA graduate while her husband is a diploma holder, and they run a business together.
Padmaja filed a complaint on May 6 against the couple, stating that she had been staying at her friend Sharmila’s residence for the past eight years. In June 2024, the complainant had removed gold ornaments kept in a bank locker in order to shift them to another bank locker. Along with the ornaments, she had also kept Rs 49.50lakh cash inside a cupboard in a room in Sharmila’s house, and kept the key with herself.
Later, when the complainant intended to shift the valuables to another bank locker, she found the cupboard key was missing. She asked her friend to arrange for a locksmith to repair the lock and make another key, but when there was no response from them, the complainant herself called a locksmith and opened the cupboard.
Upon checking, she found that the gold ornaments and cash kept inside were missing. When questioned, the complainant’s friend and her husband admitted that they had used the cash due to financial requirements and had given the gold ornaments to a friend. They also stated that they would not return the cash and ornaments.
Based on the complaint, a house theft case was registered at RR Nagar Police Station.
During investigation, police secured the complainant’s friend and her husband from their residence in BEML Layout on May 7. During interrogation, both accused confessed that they had taken the cash and gold ornaments due to financial needs for their business. During sustained interrogation, the accused revealed that the stolen cash had already been used for business and the gold ornaments had been handed over to a friend residing in Halasuru. Police recovered 232gm of gold ornaments from the friend. Investigations are on.