For nearly seven years, three young domestic workers lived and worked in the home of a wholesale grocery merchant in Hardoi, enjoying the family’s trust and unrestricted access to the household. Police said that the same trust became the key to one of the district’s biggest residential cash thefts in recent years.
Event Context
Nine days after the merchant and his wife were allegedly drugged and bags of cash stolen from their home, Hardoi police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the case, arresting 16 people and recovering ₹1.28 crore in cash. Investigators said the conspiracy stretched from Hardoi to Lucknow and involved domestic workers, drivers, daily wage labourers and history-sheeters.
Hardoi additional superintendent of police (east) Subodh Gautam said police examined footage from nearly 150 CCTV cameras, analysed electronic surveillance and conducted raids in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi before identifying the suspects.
The first breakthrough came after police detained Shobhit and the two juveniles. Their interrogation allegedly led investigators to the wider conspiracy and the remaining accused.
Team Analysis
On the night of July 16, the accused allegedly mixed sleeping pills into the dinner served to merchant Pankaj Agrawal and his wife. After the couple fell into a deep sleep, they allegedly entered the second-floor bedroom, opened an almirah and removed eight bags containing cash. Ajay, along with associates Shivam and Badan, was waiting outside in a pickup vehicle, police said. The bags were loaded and the group fled.
Agrawal lodged an FIR on July 17, though the amount of cash stolen was not disclosed in the complaint.
Police arrested 16 accused, including Ajay Shukla, Shivam, Badan, Shobhit, Deepak, Sunny Gupta, Vishal, Param Kishore, Keshav, Sunny Valmiki, Neeraj and Prince, besides the two juveniles. Police recovered ₹1,28,99,310 in cash in denominations ranging from ₹10 to ₹500. Officials said efforts are continuing to recover the remaining stolen money and arrest other suspects allegedly involved in the case.
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According to police, the plot was masterminded by Ajay Shukla, the brother-in-law of the merchant’s accountant, who allegedly knew that large amounts of cash were routinely kept inside the house because of the family’s business. Investigators said he recruited three domestic workers, including 20-year-old Shobhit and two juveniles, who had unrestricted access to the house.
Police said the trio initially resisted the plan but eventually agreed after repeated persuasion. Over the following week, they allegedly studied the family’s routine, identified where the cash was kept and planned every step of the operation.
According to police, after fleeing Hardoi, the accused reached Lucknow, where they allegedly handed over a substantial portion of the stolen cash to history-sheeter Aman and Mahfooz alias Lali of Barabanki for safekeeping and distribution.
