Woman disguised as man robs sister’s father-in-law's house of Rs 1.5 crore in Maharashtra

A 27-year-old woman disguised as a man to gain entry into the residence of her sister's father-in-law and robbed jewellery of more than Rs 1.5 crore from the house in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police said on Wednesday.

The incident took place at Manickpur in Vasai area on Monday afternoon and the woman was apprehended from Navsari in Gujarat the same night, they said.

The accused, dressed up as a man, came to the house of her sister's 66-year-old father-in-law, who lived alone, under the pretext of wanting to see it for some deal.

After entering the house, the accused took the elderly man to the toilet on the pretext of checking it, locked him inside and fled with 1.4 kg of gold ornaments and 2.3 kg of silver items, collectively valued at Rs 1,50,84,050, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Madan Ballal said.

Based on the victim's complaint, an FIR was registered the same day under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections for theft, robbery and wrongful confinement, and the police examined 75 to 80 CCTV footages, he said.

"We came across a footage showing a man carrying the stolen items and placing them somewhere before disappearing from sight, after which a woman collected them," the official said.

Along with technical surveillance and intelligence inputs, the investigators received a tip that a relative of the victim in Gujarat could be involved in the crime.

Acting swiftly, a crime branch team from here, with the assistance of the Navsari police, apprehended the woman, identified as Jyoti Mohan Bhanushali, from Gujarat late Monday night, Ballal said.

"During interrogation, she confessed to hatching the plan herself. Disguised as a man, she visited the house of her sister's father-in-law, knowing he lived alone, and carried out the robbery," the official said.

The police have recovered all the stolen items, he said, adding further probe was on into the case.