Two women held for duping beauty parlour owner of gold ornaments, jewellery worth ₹1.77 lakh recovered

The Naroda Police Station has arrested two women for allegedly stealing gold and silver ornaments from a beauty parlour under the pretext of performing a religious ritual. Police said property worth ₹1.77 lakh has been recovered in connection with the case.

According to officials, the action was carried out following specific inputs received during investigation of a theft registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Acting on the information, a police team intercepted the suspects and questioned them.

The accused have been identified as Meenaben alias Tina (40), a resident of Bahiyal village on Dehgam Road in Gandhinagar district, and Rupalben Rajeshbhai (40), a resident of Danadara village of Kheda district.

During interrogation, the duo allegedly confessed to their involvement in the offence.

Police said the women would visit beauty parlours posing as customers. While availing services, one of them would claim that her mother was arriving to perform a ritual to ward off misfortune. The other would begin to weep, reinforcing the narrative.

Under the guise of conducting a religious ceremony to remove sorrow, they allegedly persuaded the victim to bring out cash or gold ornaments, which they then decamped with. In the present case, the ornaments were later disposed of to a local jeweller.

Investigators traced the stolen property to Dhirenbhai Arvindbhai Motilal Soni (45), who runs New Harsh Siddhi Jewellers in the Daskroi area. Police said three gold bars weighing a total of 18.57 grams, valued at ₹1.77 lakh, were recovered from him.

Further legal action is being taken against all three individuals.

Police officials stated that Meenaben has an extensive criminal record, with multiple cases registered against her at various police stations across Gujarat, including offences related to cheating, criminal breach of trust and theft.

Police said further investigation is under way to ascertain whether the accused were involved in similar offences elsewhere.