Woman accused in inter-state thefts arrested in Bengaluru

After chasing a woman for almost two years in an alleged theft case in which the accused decamped with a bag carrying jewellery and cash worth Rs 15 lakh in the city, the Crime Branch Unit 5 on Tuesday nabbed her from Bengaluru.

The woman identified as Munmun Hussain, 46, alias Archana Barua aka Nikki, has many similar offences registered against her elsewhere in the country. Hussain, a resident of Bengaluru, used to fly to different cities, roam in upmarket areas and malls and lift bags. While lifting bags, she also ensured that the person is wealthy enough.

In April last year, she had allegedly stolen a bag from a store in Lower Parel mall, the bag contained jewellery and cash worth Rs 15 lakh. During the probe, it was found that the same woman had stolen bags in 2018 from shopping malls in Dadar and Lower Parel and fled with articles worth Rs 10 lakh.

"We had been looking for her for past two years. Her identity was the key and recently with the help of technical analysis, we finally nabbed her from Bengaluru. We also seized all the stolen property including jewellery, cash, mobile phone and all the documents that she had stolen a year ago," said Yogesh Chavhan, Police Inspector, Crime Branch Unit 5.