Diamond ornaments and other valuables worth more than around ₹1 crore were reported missing from the south Calcutta apartment of a city businessman.

Police arrested 11 people, including four employees at the house who had allegedly been stealing ornaments gradually and replacing them with imitation jewellery.

Those arrested included two housekeeping staff, a cook and a nanny.

The cops said the thefts were carried out over several months.

Amit Singh, the businessman, had lodged two complaints with Chetla police station last week.

The theft was detected recently when the family, residing in an apartment in a high-rise on Raja Santosh Roy Road in Chetla, realised that a diamond-encrusted bracelet and a pair of diamond earrings were missing from the house.

One of the complaints the family lodged was against Samar Naskar, a housekeeping staff; Jhuma Das, a nanny working in the house; and Supriya Purkait, who worked as a cook in the house.

During questioning, the trio reportedly admitted to their crime and said another employee, Saraswati Das, was also involved in the theft. The four were arrested.

The arrests were made earlier in December and all four are in police custody.

“The family lodged a second complaint reporting the theft of several other valuables from the house, including silver utensils, gold and silver coins, some rare coins and a diamond ring — whose total worth is more than ₹1 crore,” said an officer at Chetla police station.

During the investigation and based on the statements of the accused, the police conducted a raid at the Metiabruz home of Das, the nanny, and recovered a portion of the stolen booty on Monday.

Based on information gathered during the interrogation of the accused, the cops learnt that a portion of the stolen booty was sold to several receivers across the city.

Multiple raids were conducted in the Metiabruz, Watgunge and Girish Park police station areas. Seven more people, who the police said had bought the stolen
articles, were arrested on Monday night.

The police identified them as Priyanka Das, Rumi Singh, Ashok Jana, Sanat Fadikar, Prasenjit Manna, Tanmay Ojha and Mihir Raha.

On Tuesday, the seven were produced in court and remanded in police custody.

Senior officers involved in the probe said one should hire household help after proper background checks.

“One should be very careful while recruiting people at home. Outsiders should be trusted only to a certain extent and it is important to inform the local police station about the staff the family is recruiting,” said an officer at Lalbazar.