Gold ornaments worth around Rs 5L stolen on pretext of cleaning in Kendrapara

In a bizarre incident in Padanpur village, located under the jurisdiction of Kendrapara’s Aul police station, gold jewellery valued at approximately Rs 5 lakh was stolen from a woman on the pretext of cleaning, on Saturday.

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According to sources, two individuals approached Sheikh Murtaja’s household early this morning, offering to clean his wife’s gold ornaments. Trusting their intentions, the family handed over the jewellery items including earrings and bangles.

The suspects then filled a large vessel with water and added turmeric, claiming it would purify the ornaments. While they pretended to clean the items, the two accused persons stealthily fled with the valuables.

Although the family members were present and witnessed the entire scene, they did not realise the theft at that time. Later, the couple lodged an FIR with local police, providing the probe team with CCTV footage of the incident.

“Two persons came to our house and asked me to give my gold ornaments for cleaning. Believing them, I gave them my jewellery and was cheated. My father-in-law and mother-in-law were present at that time but could not guess something wrong was going on,” Sheikh Murtaja’s daughter-in-law Mehjabin Akhtar stated.

Worth mentioning, earlier in another incident, a woman became a victim to fraud involving counterfeit gold jewellery in Reddy Sahi locality under Patapur police limits in Ganjam, on January 15.

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The victim identified as Kalyani Reddy reported that an unknown woman visited her house in the afternoon seeking a loan and offering a gold ornament as collateral. Despite initial hesitation, Kalyani agreed and provided her with Rs 12,000 in return for the jewellery.