Woman held for stealing gold ring from Delhi jewellery shop during Diwali rush

The Delhi Police has arrested a 34-year-old woman for allegedly stealing a gold ring from a jewellery shop in east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar during Diwali festivities, an official said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Poonam Yadav, a resident of Kanpur, is part of an inter-state gang of women thieves involved in multiple gold thefts across Delhi-NCR, police said.

“On October 19, amid heavy festive crowds in the Laxmi Nagar market, three women entered a jewellery shop and stole a gold ring weighing 5.4 grams before fleeing. The theft was captured on CCTV cameras, and the footage went viral on social media, prompting police action,” a senior police officer said.

An e-FIR was registered, and multiple teams were formed to identify and nab the culprits, police said.

Police analysed CCTV footage and developed human intelligence, which led them to trace the gang’s base to Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

“Acting on specific information, a police team conducted a raid at Village Chakwa Khurd in Etawah on October 28 and arrested the accused Poonam Yadav. She was brought to Delhi for further interrogation,” the officer added.

During questioning, Yadav revealed that she, along with her associates from Kanpur, had been committing similar thefts in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Gurugram.

Police said she used to target crowded jewellery shops during festive seasons to steal small but valuable gold ornaments.

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Yadav, who is divorced and has a 16-year-old son, told police she turned to theft to sustain her livelihood. She has previously been involved in six theft cases in Delhi-NCR, they said.

Police have obtained a three-day custody remand to interrogate her further and trace her accomplices and the stolen jewellery. Further investigation is underway, officials added.