‘Easy targets’: How Pune techie robbed her own grandmother and 2 uncles; stole 15 tolas gold and other valuables

PUNE: A 31-year-old software engineer, who was detained last week for allegedly spraying a solution on her 75-year-old maternal grandmother in Karvenagar during a robbery attempt, had also targeted two other elderly relatives in separate thefts over the past few weeks, police investigations have revealed.

Police said the woman, who holds BTech and MBA degrees and works with a leading IT company in Hinjewadi IT Park, committed the thefts at the residences of two relatives in the Sinhagad Road and Kothrud areas, respectively.


"In the Sinhagad Road incident, she stole 15 tolas of gold from her maternal uncle. In the Kothrud incident, she managed to steal some valuables from another uncle," senior inspector Ulhas Kadam of the Alankar police said.

"We have served her a notice asking her to cooperate with the investigation into the robbery attempt," Kadam added.

Police said the stolen gold in the Sinhagad Road case was recovered and handed over to her maternal uncle, after the family initiated the process of withdrawing their complaint, considering the relationship with the woman. "We have returned the jewellery to her maternal uncle and the theft case registered with the Sinhagad Road police has been closed," Kadam said.

The officer said the woman did not disclose the exact motive behind the thefts, but investigators suspect that she suffered heavy financial losses in share-trading during and after the Covid pandemic. "She wanted to recover her losses by stealing valuables from the homes of her elderly relatives," he said.

Explaining why she targeted elderly family members, Kadam said, "During questioning, she revealed that they were easy targets as they live alone and did not object to her visiting their homes."

The woman's husband, who is also a software engineer, told police that he was unaware of her activities. "The husband said she would leave home simply saying she was visiting her relatives," Kadam said. The couple has a one-year-old son.

Police have filed cases against the techie under sections 309 (robbery) and 303 (theft) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).