How Delhi’s ‘master thief’ protected her loot — with 15 unlikely guards

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

Looking for Sonia

Police said they launched a search for Sonia after a complaint was lodged on April 19 by a businessman, Vijay Pal Gupta. He said that his domestic help — none other than Sonia — who he had employed a couple of months ago, had run away with all the gold jewellery in his house.

“She saw where Pal’s wife kept the jewellery, in the cupboard and other places. When the family was out on a Sunday, she entered the house using a spare key,” the police officer said.

Police claimed this was Sonia’s third heist in the Northwest district in the past eight months, and her second in Shalimar Bagh. She had stolen Rs 2 crore worth of jewellery from a house in the same area last October, and about Rs 60 lakh from a house in Maurya Enclave in September.

Tracking her down wasn’t hard. Police followed her trail from the CCTV near Pal’s house and traced her to the building in Rohini.

“When we managed to chase 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!”

Thief with an investment plan

Police said what surprised them was that Sonia was never interested in selling the jewellery. She would put them in lockers of non-banking financial companies (NBFC) to secure loans and create a source of income.

Since 2008, when she first stole from a house in Punjabi Bagh, she has opened 15 such lockers, which house over 2 kg of gold, police said.

“Even in Pal’s case, she put the gold in the locker. Most of them are in the safes of three NBFCs. We have called the regional officer of one of them to join the investigation as usually these institutions do a good background check of their clients,” a police official said.

As far as the dogs are concerned, police said Sonia told them she started buying them over five years ago as she bought more houses in Rohini and consolidated her wealth.

“She has buildings and flats worth crores, including in Rohini Sector 5. We are in the process of seizing them,” a senior police officer said.

Sonia, meanwhile, has been arrested and will remain behind bars.