A plumber working in a Salt Lake house for the past few weeks was arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing ornaments worth a few lakhs of rupees from the house.

Sunanda Majhi was arrested from his rented accommodation near Kestopur by a team from Bidhannagar East Police station. He is from East Midnapore.

The team that raided Majhi’s house found the gold and diamond jewellery items hidden inside his house, an officer said.

According to an officer of Bidhannagar Commissionerate, Himani Dasgupta, a resident of Sector II, had hired Majhi to fix bathroom fittings and replace old pipes at her house. In May Dasgupta filed a complaint stating that several of her gold and diamond rings, earrings, gold chains and other jewellery items that were kept in an almirah inside her bedroom had gone missing.

“We asked her whether they had engaged any workers or domestic help and Dasgupta told us that they had engaged a plumber,” said the officer.

Dasgupta also told the cops that the plumber had not reported for work after the jewellery went missing. The plumber told her that he had to go back to his hometown for an emergency.

The police initiated an electronic surveillance on Majhi’s number and located him.
Initially, he denied but later he admitted that he had picked up the ornaments when there was nobody around, an officer said. The police have returned the stolen jewellery to Dasgupta.

Majhi has been charged under various sections of the IPC including 379 (theft). He was produced at a local court and was sent to 14-day judicial custody.