Pune: A 35-year-old woman planned elaborate steps to ensure her husband didn’t sell her gold jewellery to raise money to buy a new house. But her ploy, which included hiding the jewellery and staging a burglary, was unsuccessful.The alleged burglary happened on Sept 25, when the family was out to participate in visarjan. The police quickly unearthed the ruse after her husband, an ex-serviceman from Dighi, lodged a complaint. They have recovered the jewellery and did not arrest the woman.Senior police inspector Santosh Kasbe of Pimpri Chinchwad crime branch told TOI that they sent a team to the complainant’s house after he alleged that on Sept 25, gold jewellery worth Rs 14 lakh was stolen from his house while the family was out for Ganesh immersion in the afternoon.“There was no forced entry into the house. We checked CCTV footage and questioned neighbours, but found no clues,” Kasbe said.He said the complainant told the police that before leaving for the immersion, his wife had locked the house and handed the key to him. “We then zeroed in on the woman. During sustained questioning, she admitted to staging the burglary,” Kasbe said.The woman told the police that her husband was planning to buy a new house and wanted to sell her jewellery after Ganeshotsav to raise money.“Worried she would never see her jewellery again, the woman decided to stop her husband from selling it,” Kasbe said.On Sept 25, when everyone left home with the Ganesh idol, the woman hid her jewellery inside the house and scattered her clothes to make it seem like the room was ransacked. She left the door unlocked and gave her husband the key.“When they returned home, they found the door open and the jewellery missing. The woman’s husband then lodged a complaint,” Kasbe said. “The family can collect the jewellery from Dighi police station,” he said.
