How Delhi domestic help stole 2 kg gold, hid it in 15 NBFC lockers — built a property empire

“She came to Delhi from Chennai over two decades ago, along with her husband Kartikeya. The couple soon settled in West Delhi. Kartikeya started his own garment shop,” said a police officer.

By 2008, Sonia started working as a domestic help. But even with the combined income of her and her husband, the expenses were not cutting it for the family of four.

“So, she planned to steal. She would work at houses for a few days, get an idea about where the families kept jewellery, steal it when they were either asleep or busy, and flee,” claimed a police officer.

Sonia’s modus operandi, despite appearing deceptively simple, was far more calculated — she would target the kind of households where domestic helps were on a temporary leave, police said.

Her source of information? Security guards posted at upscale colonies.

“She would talk them into telling her the houses which needed temporary helpers. Usually, the guards had the information as most house owners would seek their help to connect them with domestic help,” said a police officer.

In 2008, she allegedly carried out her first theft at a businessman’s house in Punjabi Bagh.

“Since then, she has carried out at least six more robberies. Most of them have been in the past two years. Last October, she’d stolen Rs 2 crore worth of jewellery from a house in Shalimar

Bagh; in September 2025, where she made off with Rs 60 lakh from Maurya Enclave… She took all the jewellery and deposited it in a locker with Muthoot Finance for a gold loan,” said a senior police officer.

Police, however, found that she was never interested in selling the stolen goods. Instead, she would put them in lockers of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to secure loans and create a source of income. Since 2008, she has opened 15 such lockers, which house over 2 kg of gold, police said.

(Express photo)

The bust

Sonia’s luck ran out last month.

“In April, she got to know from a security guard that a family in Shalimar Bagh was looking for a domestic helper. It was the house of a businessman named Vijay Pal Gupta,” said a police officer.

Gupta, in his 70s, has a factory which manufactures plastic containers in Ghaziabad. Police said the businessman, now retired, lives with his wife on the first floor of his three-floor house while his son and daughter-in-law occupy the second floor.

On April 16, Sonia went to their house. “She asked for just half the salary of their previous help, and even told them they don’t need to pay her if they don’t like her work,” said a police officer.

The next day, Sonia came earlier than called, washed clothes, cooked and cleaned the house.

On April 19, she arrived at 9 am. “In three days, she had noticed that Pal’s wife would keep jewellery in the cupboard and other places,” the officer said.

Only the businessman and his wife were at home that day. When the couple were praying in the puja room, she allegedly snuck into the bedroom.

“She stole diamonds and gold jewellery worth Rs 1.5 crore. When Pal’s wife came into the room, she found the cupboard open, the jewellery gone, and Sonia missing,” said a police officer.

Pal immediately filed a police complaint.

Tracking Sonia

When they started the probe, police initially faced a tough time. One, she had never been caught due to her multiple identities. Two, Sonia was not even her real name.

“But we had information that she lived in Rohini’s Sector 11. A retired police officer who lives in the area, went asking around, her photo in hand, and we finally managed to track her,” said a police officer.

On April 29, seven policemen, including Sub-Inspector Joginder, from the Shalimar Bagh station reached a plot in Rohini Sector 11 where a three-floor house stood — it was owned by Sonia.

Police expected some resistance: family members stopping them, high-tech security locks, and even hired muscle.

The last thing they expected was four-legged guards — dogs. There were 15 of them: three Pitbulls, four American Bullies and the rest were mixed breeds.

“They were guarding all four floors. As soon as our team entered the main gate, two of them jumped on us. A couple of team members managed to get to the first floor, where they encountered three to four more dogs. She [Sonia] had stationed them across the house to guard her money — and to buy her time in case the police showed up,” said a police officer.

Sonia was living with her mother and sister, in what the cops described as a ‘guarded fortress’ — police speak for any building higher than two floors and where a suspected criminal lives. Her son, Shivam (23), was in jail and has multiple cases of robbery and attempt to murder against them.

“When we managed to shoo the dogs and reached her bedroom, she was hiding under three to four quilts!” said an officer. “For some reason she thought she was invisible!”

Police arrested her.

During questioning, she claimed her real name was Malika. But an Aadhaar card recovered by the police showed her name as Sona.

As for the dogs, Sonia told the police that she started buying them over five years ago as she bought more houses in Rohini and consolidated her wealth. “She used to breed the dogs and sell their pups as well. She has buildings and flats worth crores, including in Rohini Sector 5. We are in the process of seizing them,” a senior officer said.

Police said her mother runs a dosa shop near their house, while her daughter, (21) is a student at Delhi University.

Police said she had put the gold stolen from Pal’s house in a locker as well. “Most of the stolen gold is in the safes of some of India’s biggest loan firms. We have asked the branch manager of one of the firms to join the probe, and will make the company an accused in the case. Usually, these institutions do a good background check of their clients,” said a police officer.