The Delhi Police has arrested a 36-year-old woman for allegedly stealing a total of Rs 57 lakh in two installments from the house of her friend’s mother in Hauz Qazi area of Central Delhi. Police said they have also arrested woman’s two brothers with whom she had shared the stolen amount.

The accused have been identified as Pooja, a resident of Pratap Nagar and her brothers Varun (29) and Amit Dabar (40), who reside in Sitaram Bazar.

According to a senior police official, an FIR was registered in Hauz Qazi police station on June 29 on the complaint of a 65-year-old woman Pushpa, a resident of Sitaram Bazar in Central Delhi.

“In her complaint, she told police that she and her relatives had sold a plot of land with joint ownership for Rs 1.5 crore in 2015. She told police that out of the sale proceed, she had got Rs 80 lakh as her share, which she had kept in a container in her house,” said the senior police official.

“In her complaint, the victim also stated that she did not exactly know how her money was stolen, but she suspected her daughter’s friend Pooja’s involvement in it. On Pushpa’s suspicion, Pooja was quizzed and she confessed to police her role in the theft,” he said.

“Pooja admitted that as a friend of Pushpa’s daughter, she often visited their residence and even did some household work to assist them. She said she spotted the money in a container a few years ago and in 2017, stole Rs 27 lakh out of it and gave Rs 22 lakh to her brothers to buy a house,” said police.

“Later, on June 8, she again went to Pushpa’s house and stole another sum of around Rs 30 lakh. Police later recovered Rs 29.43 lakh from the trio and seized a flat worth Rs 22 lakh and jewelries worth Rs 3 lakh, bought from the stolen money, from the possession of the accused,” said police.