Domestic helps steal cash, gold after sedating elderly couple, four others

Learning no lessons from repeated incidents of crimes executed by domestic helps in the city, an industrialist hired two helps without police verification, only to have his elderly parents and four other employees of the house sedated and valuables stolen from the house in his absence.

The incident took place in Model Town on Saturday night when the industrialist Gurmeet Singh, who owns a forging factory, had gone to Rishikesh for a holiday with his wife and children. 

The accused, Anil Bahadur, who was hired as a cook by the family, and his wife, Sushmita, served food laced with sedatives to the complainant’s elderly parents, guard, watchman and two other domestic helps and made off with cash, jewellery and other the valuables in the house.

The victims were identified as Hari Singh, 78, his wife Gursharan Kaur, 76, security guard Khema Nand, 50, watchman Swaran Singh, 60, domestic helps Rumila, 19 and Suman, 16. 

The incident came to light on Sunday morning when a gurdwara priest (pathi) reached their house to perform a prayer around 7.30am and found the guard and others unconscious. He immediately informed Swarnjit Singh, a relative of the family, who lives in the same locality. Swarnjeet rushed the victims to a private hospital, where their condition is said to be stable.

Model Town station house officer (SHO), inspector Inderjit Singh said the family had hired the cook and his wife, who are Nepalese nationals, without



verification. They had sought the help of Hari Bahadur, a Nepalese labour contractor, who had arranged domestic helps for his relatives too.

The SHO further said that closed-circuit television cameras in the house captured four persons leaving the house.

“Around 10.30, the two accused had called two of their accomplices and fled with the valuables in the house when the elderly couple and other staff members were lying unconscious. The losses will be ascertained once Gurmeet Singh returns to the city. The victims are currently not in a condition to share any information,” he added. 

A case will be registered after recording the statement of Gurmeet Singh, the SHO added.

Even as the Ludhiana police has been pushing city residents to get verification of tenants, domestic helps and employees, they have no procedure to verify the antecedents or criminal records of Nepalese nationals.

In case a Nepalese national flees back to the country after committing a crime here, police remain helpless. The cops have to contact the Nepalese government through the Home Ministry, which is a lengthy process. So the chances of arresting such a person is difficult. Even if he or she returns to city and starts working under a different name, arresting the person is difficult as the police department won’t have any past records in the absence of verification.