NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a goldsmith who purchased the stolen jewellery belonging to actor Sonam Kapoor's mother-in-law, a senior officer said on Thursday.
The jewellery was stolen from Kapoor's Amrita Shergill Road residence by a nurse and her husband employed by her. The jeweller was identified as Dev Verma, 40, a resident of Kalkaji, police said.
They said they have recovered from Verma stolen jewellery worth more than Rs 1 crore that included 100 diamonds, six gold chains, diamond bangles, a diamond bracelet, two tops, and one brass coin.
An i10 car that was purchased from the stolen amount by the accused couple has also been recovered, they said. Other recoveries are still in process.
The couple spent the stolen money mainly to pay off debts, medical expenses of their parents, and house renovation. Verma is the third one to be arrested in connection with the theft.
Police on Wednesday had arrested Aparna Ruth Wilson, an employee at Kapoor's residence, along with her husband Naresh Kumar Sagar from their residence in Sarita Vihar. They are accused of stealing cash and jewellery worth Rs 2.4 crore in February from the actor's house where she lives with her husband and in-laws.
The nurse, hired to look after the 86-year-old mother-in-law of the actor, conspired with her accountant husband to steal the jewellery and cash from the house, police said.
Verma confessed to have bought the stolen jewellery from Sagar and paid him the sum in cash and electronic transaction, they said.
Wilson and Sagar allegedly executed the theft on February 11 and an FIR was registered on February 23 at Tughlaq Road Police Station, police said.
The complainant in the case was the manager of Kapoor and her husband Anand Ahuja's house that employs over 40 people, they said.
During investigation, the police questioned more than 32 employees and six nurses along with their relatives and contacts.
The biggest challenge during investigation was the lack of knowledge about the time lag between the theft and when the owners noticed the theft, said Rohit Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).
"Based on technical analysis, the team zeroed in on two suspects and following a raid, both Naresh Kumar Sagar and his wife Aparna Ruth Wilson were apprehended from their house," he said.
During interrogation, Wilson told police that she was hired by the household when Kapoor's mother-in-law in 2020 was admitted to a hospital where she worked as a nurse, and she got to know about the requirement of another nurse at their house, the officer said.
"In March 2021, the accused started working as a nurse in the actor's house. While working she observed that jewellery and cash were kept in an almirah. One day the nurse took the mother-in-law to the almirah on her wheelchair and saw inside it jewellery worth crores, and huge amount of cash. She told about this to her husband and they conspired to steal it all," the officer said.
Sagar asked her to steal the jewellery intermittently to prevent the theft from getting noticed. As planned, she would steal jewellery at night after giving sedatives to the victim, the officer said. They stole the entire stuff over a span of 10-11 months, and sold the jewellery as and when they got a chance.
The FIR was registered under the Indian Penal Code section 381 (theft by clerk or servant of property in possession of master), police said. The Tughlaq Road Police Station had transferred the case to the Special Staff Branch of the New Delhi district for investigation, they said.
The Crime Branch is also probing the matter, police said.