Nepal-based burglary gang used domestic workers to target luxury villas, say police

A Nepal-based burglary gang used domestic workers placed in luxury villas to gather information on residents’ movements before carrying out thefts, according to Cyberabad police who are investigating the recent high-value burglary at Hill Ridge Villas in Gachibowli.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner M. Ramesh said the gang primarily targeted affluent families living in upscale gated communities. The key accused, identified as Suresh alias Suraj, recruited individuals from Nepal and placed them as domestic workers in expensive villas and houses across Hyderabad. Information about unoccupied homes was used to plan and execute the thefts.

The case surfaced after an elderly couple returned to their villa on June 7 and noticed that a gold chain adorning an idol was missing. A day later, their son opened a locker in the house and found that gold ornaments and over 1.3 kg of silver items were gone.

Following an intensive investigation involving multiple teams across several states, Cyberabad police tracked the suspects to Uttar Pradesh. Three accused, identified as Kamal Shahi, Vimla Shahi and Kalpana Shahi, all natives of Nepal, were arrested in Rampur district, while Suresh is absconding.

Police recovered the entire stolen property, including approximately 7.84 kg of gold ornaments, 1.36 kg of silver items, ₹33,170 in cash and two mobile phones.

Further investigation is continuing to trace the absconding suspect.

Mr. Ramesh has announced rewards for the officers involved in the detection of the case and recovery of the stolen property.