Accused Sandeep Hegde

The Khar police have arrested a 30-year-old house help, who allegedly stole diamond earrings worth Rs 5 lakhs from Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s sister Arpita Sharma’s residence on Tuesday. The police traced the accused to Thane within 24 hours with the help of CCTV footage and recovered the stolen diamond earrings.

The complainant, Arpita Aayush Sharma, 34, is a resident of 17th Road, Khar West. The accused is Sandeep Sidram Hegde, a resident of Ambedwadi at Vile Parle East. According to the police, on the afternoon of May 14, Arpita took off her diamond earrings in the bathroom and kept them in a tray. She forgot to put the earrings back on after her bath.

A police officer said, “On May 15, at 3 pm, when Arpita looked for the earrings in the tray in the bathroom, they were missing. She also called the house supervisor to look for them.”

Later, Arpita found that the bathroom had been cleaned by Hegde and he hadn’t reported for work. She immediately informed the Khar police and registered an FIR.

The police formed a team under the guidance of Senior PI Mohan Mane and detection staff to trace the accused.  With the help of CCTV cameras the accused was traced in Thane. The police also recovered the stolen diamond earrings.

A police officer said, “We registered the FIR under Section 381 of the IPC and arrested Sandeep Hegde from Thane and recovered the stolen diamond earrings. The accused will be produced in court on Thursday.”